Monday, December 17, 2012

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










12 comments:

  1. I hear ya on that. At one point we had three beagles and two cats (all ours - we didn't foster) and they would always have a crisis or an issue on Friday or Saturday. Usually after our normal vet office had closed. Luckily we also had an amazing teaching vet hospital at the university in town that was available for emergencies. One of our vets had a theory that the pets would get together every six weeks to decided who was going to have a crisis this time, lol. The vet we see now is open late and seven days a week thank goodness.

    Poor Normie! I hope he continues to improve. Give him kisses for me. Those senior pets sure love to give us a scare.

    Let us know how Mama Jefferson gets on with her new charge. And adoptions should hopefully pick up. These guys are irresistible (especially in festive costumes :)

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    1. The funny thing is that our Mother Jefferson was "mothering" the older kittens at Petco too. Perhaps she's just not ready to give up the job yet. Her new little girl Paris needs a mama to help her feel safe, so it could work out for the best.

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  2. Well it was RObyn's weekend this past, so maybe yours will be the next one. Lincoln looks adorable in his outfit and has thus been added to the screensaver folder.

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    1. He will be quite honored when I let him know ;) Yep... next weekend is the one. Vixen is the last "baby" baby left in the rescue. I'm shocked she's still here.

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  3. Norman, Norman, Norman, we need you to feel better soon! You have quite the fan club out here - love those senior kittehs!

    The festive attire just cracked me up! I can't imagine any of my crew letting me do that to them...

    And Comet, you are one beautiful kitten! I hope you mama shares some pictures as you grow up.

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    1. Cruzie did have a Santa hat and beard at one point, but those didn't last long enough to snap a photo. As it was, he wrestled his way out of the coat after about 20 minutes (and while I do have a picture of the process, it is incredibly immodest and borders on kitten porn... there's a reason he's being "tutored" tomorrow)

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    2. Oh, Kelly, you are being a tease! Now you HAVE to share those photos with us!! I can't believe Cruzie stayed in that cape for 20 minutes. That's amazing. I've never known a cat who would allow for anything like that. All of mine have responded like Vixen.

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  4. We can't believe that those babies weren't snapped up.

    Poor Norman....it happens here too. And then you fret - wait for the regular vet, off to the 24 hour vet.....what to do??? We are glad he is feeling a little better and hope he continues to improve.

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    1. Thankfully my vet is there for a half-day on Saturdays, so I was able to get him in. But they're just like kids, waiting for the office to close before they get sick.

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  5. Norman, Norman, Norman... I hope you are just worrying your pawrents and not having a major issue. Eat baby, eat... we can't have a skinny Norman..

    it happens on the weekends because we watch it for a few days hoping it will get better and then run in to oh no, if I don't get this taken care of I'll need to end up at the emergency clinic! When I worked as a receptionist at a vet, we could count on at least one (if not three) "well my pet has been off all week, but can you see him now??" calls on Saturdays, more often than not they would be calling two minutes before we closed.. and then they would accuse us of not liking pets or caring at all if we said no.

    there must be something really special in store for those kitties.. They are waiting for just the right people..

    I hope Comet's momma appreciates those photos as much as I do!

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  6. Thank you so much Kelly! I can't wait to pickup my boy tomorrow! Great job on the pics I truly appreciate them!

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    1. You are very welcome. I'll have him all ready for you tomorrow evening. He is a very lucky boy (and you're pretty lucky to be getting this special gentleman too)

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