Why Does It Always Happen on the Weekend?

As we moved toward the weekend in Teeny Tiny Tabby Town, it became increasingly obvious that there was something not quite right with Norman.

Norm had been quiet for about a week, unusually so. On Thursday, he started to disappear. I found him first huddled behind the toilet in the bathroom off the kitchen. I brought him out, gave him hugs, and put him on the sofa next to me. He returned to his spot in the bathroom. On Friday, I came home from a day away to find him hiding behind the open bathroom door and completely uninterested in attention or food. He had also become a bit crusty and stinky because our boy has been less than interested in hygiene lately.

After calling the vet, I separated him from the rest of the population so I could monitor his food and water intake along with his output in the litter box until I could get him to the clinic on Saturday morning. Two bites of food, a slurp or two of water, and one trip to the box. To say I was worried would be an understatement.

On Saturday morning, the vet detected a heart murmur (which was new for Norman) and felt that his intestines were "thicker" than she would like. He had lost a half of a pound since August and was dehydrated. After x-rays, this is what we learned...  His heart looks normal, as do his lungs, liver, and stomach. His intestines? Completely empty, not a trace of food inside of them. Well, maybe not completely empty. They were blown up like balloons with gas.

Our mission... get Norman rehydrated and eating again. He received 150 cc of sub-cutaneous fluids and an injection of steroids. We also have a prescription for Metronidazole, every day for seven days. So far, so good. We're still keeping him separated to monitor intake and output. He's eating, drinking, and using the litter box. He's also apparently getting rid of some of that gas... good grief, is it ever stinky in there.

"Geez, Lady... do you have to tell ALL of Norman's private issues?  So an old man has gas.  How, exactly, is that surprising?"

As long as Norman continues to improve, we can avoid further vet visits before Christmas.  If he crashes again, we have an ultrasound on the horizon to check further into his insides.  If he thought the x-ray was fun, he's going to LOVE the ultrasound ;-)

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The Adoption Report

Zip, Zilch, Nada. No adoptions from Teeny Tiny Tabby Town over this weekend. Seriously... what is the matter with people??? They could have had the pick of:

Cruzie Claus,

Lincoln the Pink-Nosed Reindeer,

or Vixen the Magnificent

(who was having NOTHING to do with the beautiful jingle bell collar provided for her)

There's only one weekend left to find the perfect kitten for that special someone on your Christmas list. To that end, this week's blog will be an advertisement of sorts. I need to get these three placed in their forever homes, and soon. We will also have daily updates on the Futures 4 Felines blog featuring a new kitten every day. I know most of my readers are outside Michigan, but if you could find it in your heart to share our friends with fuzzy noses with your human friends in the midwest I would be forever grateful.

Oh... and the Mother Jefferson update: Mama came back to us on Saturday. She was wound up and upset at coming back to the cat condos, so we brainstormed a solution. Our rescue director Paula has a baby tortie girl in desperate need of socialization so she took Mama home with her to work her magic ((Mama Catalina, Lincoln and Cruzie's mama, was on the job but she got adopted Friday night so baby Paris needed a new substitute mama)).  I hear that both torties are "weird" enough to make it work.  So our Mama is back on the job... raising another baby.  :)

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For Comet's Mama