Well, Meowff came back to the shelter this afternoon. We've got her set up in the big holding cage as it's a single level so there's no worry about her falling off her shelf due to any missteps. We've got an igloo in there and she snuggled up pretty quickly after locating the litter box, biscuits and water. She seems to be coping really well with her current blindness. She's very responsive to cuddles, but doesn't seem desperate for them at all, which is nice to see.
She goes back to the vet on the 3rd of July to have the stitches holding her 3rd eyelid over the removed ulcer, so we're all crossing our fingers that she'll have some sight in that eye. The left is still blind, but she'll see the eye specialist on the 5th of July. Again, more finger crossing! May still be only temporary.
Check out the cool flickr badge Reb did of Meowff just under the links section on the left hand side. More wonderful photos of our Meowffie on flickr.com - just click the image. Also heaps more taken by Reb of lots of our other past and current residents!
The garage sale was pretty quiet today, probably due to the horrible weather. But we did make a reasonable amount, so that'll help keep us in cat food and kitty litter. (Not to mention vet bills!)
Toby got chosen today and is off to a lovely new home with a nice quiet single woman. Be right up his alley I think, as he's basically very loving and more than a little timid. So having just one person to bond to and no other cats to worry about will be perfect for him I think.
Madeline's coming back to the shelter tomorrow on antibiotics for a month! Which, with her, is going to mean cage confinement for that time so we can be sure she's getting them. This will be...interesting (to say the least!)
Sambo's continuing to improve on the high blood pressure medication, but will stay at the vet's until his fosterer gets back from holiday rather than go back to the cattery. Just in case!
Winnie was really responsive towards Angela today. She's definate starting to trust that when people put their hands towards her it's not a bad thing. Poor wee girl - she wants affection, but finds it very hard to trust when she gets it.
Mischief was out in the sun porch when I called in today - not that it was at all sunny. This is noteworthy as Mischief hardly ever leaves her cage! She was huddled up in an igloo out there and seemed very freaked out, so I eventually picked her up and got her back to her cage, where she proceeded to dance and purr and generally seemed rather happy to be home. She's another one that's really starting to come out of her shell and demand cuddles.
Right - now to put some more photos up on our flickr.com site. Check em out - they're lovely.
So going to keep this short and head back to the log burner!
Meowff just lovely the last couple of nights. Still very cuddly and sweet and happy to smell a familiar hand. She's such a resilient wee girl. I talked to one of the other vets tonight who isn't at all convinced that her blindness is related to the anesthetic. So, the eye specialist is back from France on July 5th and we'll be arranging for Meowff to see him ASAP after that. Still hoping her blindness is only temporary, but if not, we're going to be looking hard for that special home for her, as the shelter is not a terrifically good place for a deaf and blind cat (if it comes to that).
Madeline is also down at the vet's at the moment. Di noticed yesterday that her third eyelid was right up so managed to wrestle her into a cage and get her down there. Just as well, as she's had all her teeth out and is on antibiotics for a kidney infection. Just need to mention here that Madeline's one of our permanent population of ex-ferals that we took on some time ago that have never really tamed up enough to home to people. We don't take feral cats into the shelter now, but our oldies will have a home with us for as long as they live. However some of them are still pretty hard to handle when it comes to things like vet visits, so WELL DONE to Di and Shyla for getting her down there!
Oh - and I've been told there still may be problems with posting comments, so we're working on that.
Right, back to the log burner. More updates to come over the weekend.
Popped in again to see Meowff at the vet's tonight. She's responding very well to the medication and they've cut her pain killers right down. Her left eye looks pretty good ulcer-wise, but still no sign of any return of sight. She's in damn good spirits 'tho. Forgave me almost instantly for waking her up and was very purry and snuggly with lots of head butts. Damn she's such a brave little cat. Seems quite unfazed at the moment by her world of darkness and silence. I'm sure familiar smells and hands must make a difference, tho the staff at the vet have got to be in that category by now!
Sambo's doing better too. He's got a massive urinary tract infection which is responding well to antibiotics and he as looking a LOT happier tonight. Last night he was under his blanket hiding from the world, while tonight he was curled up on top and purred away while I patted him, then ate a good lot of wet food and biscuits.
Monty was very unimpressed at my coming home covered in the fur of other cats ('tho you'd think he'd be used to it by now), but a shower and change later he's forgiven me enough to spend an hour on my chest thoroughly grooming me. (OK, so maybe the shower wasn't as effective as it should be!). Little Madame doesn't seem to much care as long as there's cuddles and dinner in the offing.
Katt's blood tests are back. Her thyroid levels are higher than expected, so we're having to up her dose of neomercozole for the next month, at which point they'll retest. She's otherwise in good condition and her kidney's seem pretty good at this stage, so she may well be a candidate for the radioactive iodine treatment to fix her hyperthyroid. Once more we cross our fingers.
Stumpy and Le Roy are continuing to do well and are improving a lot after the weekend's "incident".
So all in all, things are looking not too bad (touch wood).
And for those of you who haven't heard, the SPCA had a small fire in their laundry on sunday and have lost all of their bedding for their animals. We're getting a decent lot together from our surplus stock, but if anyone has any towels, blankets, jerseys etc that they can donate to them, they'd really appreciate it.
And finally, for anyone who's tried posting a comment and hit an internal server error, they should be working now.
Well, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is Meowff's developed an ulcer in her left eye, and this morning was looking bloody awful! The good news is it's been responding well to eye drops and by the time I called in tonight to bring her her special blanket and give her a cuddle, she was looking much perkier than reports from the vet this morning indicated. They're going to continue treating via medication for now, as we can't risk another anesthetic at this stage as her sight still hasn't returned.
The vet's calling in the eye specialist, so we'll see if we can't get to the bottom of Meowff's ongoing eye problems. She was very bright and purry tonight and seemed very pleased to see me (or maybe it was her special blanket she was so happy about). Either way, lots of cuddles and head butts which was just lovely.
Sambo, one of our older fostered cats is also in at the vet with slighly worsening kidneys and possible hypertension. We should have a better idea of how he's going tomorrow when the test results get back. Keeping fingers crossed for him that it's something treatable.
On the plus side, I talked to Kitten's new person tonight and the two of them are blissfully happy together. He's recently lost his elderly cat through kidney failure and is just loving having this sweet snuggly girl to love. And Kitten is loving being loved, so that's working out just fine. He said tonight he couldn't have chosen a more perfect cat! A sentiment I'm sure Kitten will agree with.
Stumpy and Le Roy are still a bit traumatised after the aborted vet visit attempt, but are coming around with much concerted grovelling from their (equally traumatised) people.
So, a mixed week in the world of the Wellington Cats Protection League. Two good homings on the weekend balanced by more unpleasantness for our beloved wee Meowff and health problems for dear old Sambo.
Just a quick update tonight as it's damn cold in my study. Should have some more news on Meowff tomorrow.
Called in to see Meowff again today. She's in good spirits and very smoochy, but still blind. If the blindness is only temporary it could take up to 2-3 weeks to come right, so we're in for a rather nervous time of it over the next wee while. At least the staff at the vet have all fallen for our wee girl, so she's getting lots of people making a big fuss of her, which hopefully is helping.
On the rehoming front, Puff got a new home yesterday and I homed Kitten to a lovely guy this afternoon. He called before I left the shelter to say she'd eaten a whole tin of food, plus some roast chicken, rubbed all round his legs and purred her head off. I think she'll just be so happy to be back in a home of her own that'll she'll be worshiping the ground he walks on. For about a week, after which she'll be expecting him to worship her, as is only right and proper. Having spent some time with him this afternoon, I don't think that'll be any problem at all.
Had a new cat come in yesterday, another Boris. Lovely 9 year old silver grey and white short haired tabby lad whose elderly owner has had to go into care. He was brought in by his son, who was very upset at having to leave Boris with us. However he has two cats and Boris is a bit of a timid lad who needs to be an only cat, so that's the home we'll find for him. He seems like a really lovely boy, so hopefully we'll find a home for him soon.
Did my final phone calls for C2, Misty and Mona Lisa, who have all settled in well. They've all passed the "go outside and come on home" hurdle, so we figure at that stage our involvement is done. Sometimes 'tho it's damn hard to let go - really missing both C2 and Mona Lisa. C2 had been with us for over a year, and you do get very attached, especially after that length of time. Lovely to know he's so happy now 'tho, as he really wasn't enjoying being in the shelter with all the other cats.
On the general shelter front, Rhiannon's just going from strength to strength. Lots of tummy rubs and general cuddles today - huge progress from the frightened ex-stray that hissed and spat at everyone for the first month or so.
Ciaran still doesn't like me at all. I try, but almost every time I try to pat him, he bites me. Fortunately there are a number of volunteers he really does like, so he's making good progress. (Not great for the ego 'tho. Oh well, can't win them all).
Right, guests arrived for dinner, so better finish. Will use this next week to get some profiles and photos of our other cats up for anyone who's interested in reading them. And don't forget to check out this site for lots of lovely photos of our cats.
Poor wee love. Got an email yesterday from Heather who'd had a call from Lorraine at the shelter. They were concerned that Meowff's good left eye had a very dilated pupil and weren't sure if she could see. So, we got her down to the vet smartly, and it turns out she's currently gone blind in that eye. The vet's very hopeful it's only temporary and a result of the anesthetic for the op on her other eye on thursday. She's staying at the vet over the weekend while they monitor her. So we're keeping our fingers crossed for our little Meowffie!
By the way - if you want to see more photos of Meowff and a lot of our other cats, check out this site that Reb's kindly set up for us. There's some absoutely lovely photos up there.
I popped in to see her last night and drop Katt off for some blood tests to see how her hyperthyriod condition is going. Meowff seemed very pleased to see me and was very purry and cuddly. I guess she's starting to look on the clinic like a second home after all she's been through over the last few months. Decided to call in and spend some more time with her this afternoon, as that's one girl who loves to be made a fuss over.
Also going to visit Bryan and Le Roy's new people, who called this morning feeling decidedly shattered after attempting to get them into a carry cage to take them to the vet. The boys had completely freaked, much blood was spilled and the decision made to give them quite a bit longer to settle in before attempting that again!
The people in the house are feeling horrible and worried they've set the boys back by trying this, but I'm sure with time they'll settle down again. I've got a spare feliway diffuser will will drop that off to them in the hope that spreading synthethic cat pheramones through the house will help calm the boys down a bit. Won't try to see the lads tho - the last thing they need right now is thinking they're going to be taken back to the shelter!
Right, that's all for now. Hopefully there'll be another update this evening once I know how Meowff and Katt are doing.
Meowff's been with us for well over a year now and none of us can figure out why no one has chosen her. She's a lovely quirky wee cat, and very playful with an incredibly lovely personality. Maybe it's because she's deaf that people get put off? Who knows.
Anyhow, she's had a horrible run lately. About 2 months ago she suddenly got a very bad bout of pancreatitis, which turned into bacterial hepatitis. We raced her to the vet and she was there for over a week, during which time she nearly died. Fluid on the lungs, cerebral adema, anemia, you name it, she had it. As you can imagine, we were frantic, and she was swamped with visits from a huge number of volunteers who were all hoping against hope she'd be OK. Well, she's a strong little thing and Meowff pulled through. Our vet's calling her our miracle cat, and she really is all that.
She's been back at the shelter and going strong, but has recently had more problems with her eyes and has just been down to the vet to have an ulcer removed from her right eye. Reports tonight indicate she's still a bit groggy, but doing well.
On the Bryan (Stumpy) and Le Roy front, all is going pretty well. Aside from Le Roy's tendency to try to dig through his litter tray towards China in the wee hours of the morning, they're doing just great. Their new people are going to take him to the vet on the weekend to make sure it's nothing physical, so fingers crossed it's just part of the settling in process.
OK, my Mony man is about to get very annoyed if I don't pay him some attention & is likely to bite the hand that types, so more later.
Talked to Bryan and Le Roy's new people last night. Bryan (now renamed Stumpy for his 1/4 length tail) is settling in a little more quickly than Le Roy. He's been out and about and sitting on the couch, but is still pretty nervous. Poor Le Roy has spent most of the time under the cabinet in the lounge, but is happy to respond when patted.
Given how timid these two lads are, it's not surprising they're feeling pretty freaked out by their new circumstances. But Stu and Sam are good patient people and we're sure they'll settle in well in a week or so.
Dear ol C2 thinks all his Christmases have come at once by all accounts. He's taken to sleeping under the blankets in the bed and is having the time of his life with his adoring new family.
Mona Lisa is finding that with 3 children and 2 adults to worship her, she's just about getting enough love and cuddles to keep her happy.
And Misty is also settling in well to her new home, 'tho her new people are hoping she'll feel confident enough to let them out of her sight soon.
At the shelter, really quiet yesterday. No one through to look at the cats, which was a bit disappointing. Not having C2 there is making a big difference 'tho. Without the tension between him and Cheeky, everyone is much more relaxed - especially Cheeky! He's now coming out of his cage during the day and spending time out in the yard, which is just lovely to see.
Katt and Puff came in last Sunday and are settling into the shelter environment. Katt's a lovely 13-14 yr old ginger and white girl, who's come to us because she's hyperthyroid and costing her owners money. Puff's a lovely 6 mth long haired white and black lad - very sweet and playful. Apparently he pounced on the baby's toes and jumped into it's cot so had to be got rid of! (Humph!)
Boris also came in yesterday. He's huge! Big soppy grey lad, who, as of yesterday, is no longer an unneutered male. Everyone who's met him agrees that he won't be with us for long!
Fingers crossed we get some people in today to fall in love with some of our wonderful cats.
Well, this is my first blog entry for the new Cats Protection League blog. We'll be using this to keep everyone up to date with the happenings at our Brooklyn shelter.
It's been a helluva week really. Last Sunday Misty, Mona Lisa and C2 all were chosen and went off to live in their new homes, while Bryan and Le Roy went to their new home last night. We're especially happy about C2 getting a home, as he's been with us for over a year and really wasn't very happy in the shelter. According to his new people, he's settling in really well and is blisfully happy in a home of his own.
On the crappy side, two of our older cats, Muffy and Scuba, who have been living with fosterers, had to be euthanised on monday and tuesday. Poor wee Muffy's kidney's packed up, while Scuba, who's been going down hill for a month or so now finally stopped eating and the vet recommended it was time to let him go. At least they both had over a year in homes with people who loved them. Bye guys - you will be missed.
In other news, the new shelter is slowly coming along. We're hoping to be moved in by August and having the cats enjoy the increase in sunshine that shifting out of Ohiro Rd will bring. It's going to be much much bigger and sunnier than our current place, and with a separate section for some of our more timid cats, so we're all really excited about it.
Anyhow, more updates to come this weekend. And if anyone has questions about how we work, or would like to help out, please add your comments and questions and I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.