wavesoflife

Last weekend was pretty rough. On Thursday last week, Nobi started limping, like he had hurt one of his back legs. Then his eyes got all gunky and were almost completely closed.

And on Friday night, his head starting tilting. Head tilt is something that can occur in rabbits for a variety of reasons, but one of the most common is inner ear infections. Saturday night he was unable to keep his balance and kept rolling around when he tried to go anywhere. It was a horrible sight to see. He was so scared and all we could do was try to make him comfortable. On Monday he had his vet appointment. They gave him a few shots and gave us an antibiotic, a steroid, and eye drops to give to him.

He’s doing better now. His head is still tilted, but he’s able to keep his balance now for the most part. I woke up this morning and found him in the bedroom and Yoda in the library. We had to rearrange their pen Saturday and it’s no longer fully connected so someone must have pushed it open today. Every once in a while one of the bunnies gets out of the pen some way and we find them hopping around the house. It’s no big deal if it’s Nobi, but Yoda loves to chew anything and everything. Clothes, wires, books…so finding him in the library is never a good thing. Fortunately he didn’t do too much damage (although Robert Jordan’s New Spring did get pretty nibbled).

Luna also went into heat this weekend. It’s mew, mew, mew all the time around here. We had called the local humane society back in the beginning of December to get her spayed at one of their low-cost clinics, but they were backlogged and still haven’t had an opening. She’s 7 months old now (as of Monday). I had never been around a cat in heat before. It’s…annoying. Especially when you’re trying to sleep. She also keeps trying to seduce Draco. Draco is not that interested, although he has humped her a few times (very disturbing). That’s also really odd if you think of them as their namesakes.

She is TINY! Smaller than a hardcover book. And adorable and so active and playful.

She doesn’t have a name yet. I can’t decide on one, although the one I’m most considering is Luna.

Right now she’s laying on my chest as I’m laying on the couch using my laptop. This is something Draco also used to do as a kitten and still tries to as an adult, but it doesn’t work so well with him since I can’t see the screen over him.

The inital reaction of the other cats wasn’t very friendly. They weren’t pleased to have another cat. There was hissing and Draco especially didn’t seem to like having her around. He’s getting to like her though and was even laying next to her and letting her play with his tail. Spencer is hiding still. Akasha was the most interested in her at first but now has lost interest.

I’ve just been devastated since Mr. Kitty died yesterday. I cried most of yesterday. Today I’ve been teary off and on, and feel very sad still. I only had him a week and a half. I guess that’s part of it. I hardly got to know him. And yet I knew him a lot by the hours I spent in there reading. There’s also the fact that I saved him, but it wasn’t enough. I’m very glad I did find him and take him in. It just hurts so much though.

I still don’t know why he was just sitting by the side of the road and can’t help wondering how he ended up there. Two people did contact me about my ad, but the cats they were looking for were not him. It’s all just so sad.

The stray cat I found the other week passed away at the vet’s this morning.

I had taken him in because he was having trouble eating and I thought something might be wrong with his teeth. While the vet was trying to examine him, he started to panic. They took him out of the room. Several minutes later the vet came back. She had a cup of something in her hands. I don’t remember what exactly she said, but she said the fluid in the cup came from his lungs. The moving around while they were trying to look at him did something to the fluid and it basically caused him to drown. She said he was pawing at his mouth, because he didn’t know why he couldn’t breathe. She said it could have been a variety of reasons why there was fluid in his lungs, and that even though he wasn’t showing any symptoms, he was likely very sick.

She left me alone for a few minutes. I was of course crying by then and the doctor was teary-eyed as well. A nurse came in and asked me if I wanted them to cremate him. They gave me several options. I chose the communial cremation, as I didn’t want to keep the ashes. Then she asked if I wanted to see him again. I said yes. A few minutes later she brought him in, wrapped all up in a towel. I held him and said goodbye. He was still warm…it didn’t seem like he could really be dead. I petted his head and told him he had been a good kitty.

He was such a good, sweet kitty. I would go in each day and spend a couple hours reading while laying on the floor. He would be happy to see me and meow. He’d come over and rub against my hand for me to pet him. He’d also reach his paw towards my hand like he was trying to grab my hand to make me pet him. He’d lay next to me, or somewhere near me. He’d purr. He loved to be petted.

When I would leave, he’d try to leave with me. He’d meow at the door, wanting to be left out or for me to come back in. We would often see his little pink nose sticking under the door. I’m going to miss that so much. I called him Mr. Kitty Nose, or Mr. Kitty. Despite only having been with me a little over a week, he had a big effect on me and I’m going to miss him a lot.

He’s doing well. He’s no longer limping. He’s still eating and drinking. We had to go out and get some dry food for older cats because he was having trouble chewing the food. He is very friendly and loves to be petted. I go in there and lay on the floor and read and he lays down next to me.

I’m attempting to locate his owner but am kind of nervous. What if they don’t seem like a nice person? Of course, maybe they’re a very nice person who is heartbroken about their missing cat. Or maybe the owner purposely left the cat out, or moved, or something. He’s such a sweet cat, I just want him to have a good home.

I was on my way to work today when I saw a cat sitting by the side of the road. Not far down the road, I turned into a fishing/boating turn-off (the road is next to a creek). I parked and walked back down the road to where the cat was. The cat was now laying down. I picked it up and it was all skin and bones. It didn’t struggle, just let me carry him to my car. I put him on the floor of the passenger side and he stayed there while I turned around and went home.

I left the cat in the car while I went inside to call my vet. They could see me at 4:30 (it was then 1:30). I got our large dog-sized cat carrier out and put a small bunny pan of litter in it and a dish of water (the vet said I should wait to feed it, in case of blood work), then got the cat and brought him in and put him inside. I put the carrier in our library and shut the door. I checked on him every so often between reading in the den. He would meow when I would leave and I felt bad.

Finally it was time to go to the vet. The vet was running behind, so we had a long wait. The cat is a he, is neutered, and is declawed on all four paws (poor kitty). There was no microchip. She thought he was about 10 years old. She did a feline leukemia test, but I don’t know the results of that yet. I’m expecting it to be negative. If someone neutered and declawed him, they probably also vaccinated him.

He is much thinner than Akasha was when we adopted her, and she was very thin. The vet said it’s possible that he’s been eating but has a kidney or thyroid problem and recommended a full blood panel. It’s very expensive, so I’m going to wait and see if he gains weight at all from eating. We can’t afford it at the moment anyway, as we’re getting both our cars inspected this weekend.

Right now he’s drinking a lot, but hasn’t gone to bathroom since I’ve found him. He wasn’t eating the dry food we gave him, so we put some in water and he’s been drinking that. He’s limping a little on one leg. There is a sore on that leg. I mentioned it to the vet, but I don’t know that she looked at it. I washed it off and put some ointment on it.

I looked online at some lost pet sites (very depressing, btw). I guess I should call the humane society to see if anyone reported a black and white cat missing in the area. There was no collar on him, of course.

I don’t know what we’re going to do with him. The vet recommended keeping him separate from the other cats for 12 weeks, in case he just contracted feline leukemia and isn’t showing up in blood work. I guess if he does have that we will definitely have to find a different home for him. Otherwise, I’m not sure.