2015: State of the Kitties

Patient Zero, budding artist

Patient Zero
Status: Adopted
Now named Subzero, this feisty little guy was my first catch of the year. He now owns a human named Angel and is appropriately worshiped.


Number One and Caramel
Status: Adopted
Under the new assumed names of Sable and Carmy, these two cuddled their way right into Sue's heart, her bed and pretty much everything in her house. It's actually their house now, but they let Sue stay because she gives good snuggles, has thumbs and is experienced at opening cans.


Cheeto and Dorito

Caramel, Isolde, Scully, Cheeto and Dorito

Status: Adopted
These ginger brothers were rather hard to tell apart, so it's good that they went to a new home together. They now live with a nice lady who found her house to be devoid of cats. The boys have fixed that.


Isolde
Status: Adopted 
This tabby darling is now the sweetheart of a boy named Tristan. But, it's not going to work out like in the story, because that would be weird.

Edgar Allen and Montressor

Status: Adopted

Edgar and Montressor came from the Halloween trio of black kittens who all won themselves Poe names. This pair of brothers was adopted by a pair of sisters and collectively, I imagine they are plotting some world domination or maybe eating tuna and finishing homework, respectively.

Annabel Lee and Lenore

Status: Adopted / Returned / Adopted Again

Both of these girls had a rough time before they were fostered. Annabel so underweight that we really concerned for her health and Lenore with a tail so broken that it had to be amputated. Their first home didn't work out because they helped their new dad rediscover his asthma. After a brief stint back at the Kittenasium, a home was found for them that was just right. Annabel can live on Jennifer's face and chest while Lenore can chill with Justin. It's working out nicely.

Catherine Earnshaw and Linton

Status: Adopted

Catherine and Linton were a sibling pair that just would not be parted. Thankfully, they found a family who was totally ok with that.

Heathcliff

Status: Adopted

Mina and Dorian

Now known as Jake, this little ginger fella is enjoying life with his new moms. He is being spoiled rotten with a ton of new toys and is working on winning his way into the heart of his older adopted sister kitty, who still isn't too sure of his intentions.

Mina Harker and Dorian Grey

Status: Adopted

The inseparable pair of siblings arrived and left together. Mina was aggressively friendly and like to hang out on faces. Dorian was cool just hanging out next to humans. Thankfully they found a new mom and dad who adopted them together so they continue their madcap adventures and hardcore naps together.

Allen Quatermain... waiting

Allen Quatermain

Status: Fostering

This grey and white little fella isn't too sure about people still, but he came from the mean streets behind a 24 hour Checkers. We're still trying to convince him that people are swell and have nice food for him. Right now, he really likes it under my bed.

Scully

Status: Foster Failure / Adopted 
After taking the professional name of Scully, the kitten formerly known as Rolo decided she liked Kristen the Cat Lady rather a bit and wanted to keep sleeping on her pillow. So, there she stayed. Seriously, she's still there, on my pillow. I think the whole bed may be hers now, but she lets me sleep there... for now.

Kitler

Status: Back from Meowschpringe

Hopefully for good this time. This cow kitty needs to stop falling out of first floor windows. He's still pretty sure everyone is going to murder him, but he now contemplates his paranoia in the same room as guests. People now can believe that Kitler really exists.

Neville

Status: King of his Castle

Neville is large, in charge, and as friendly as can be. I see none of this changing.

Overview: By the Numbers

• Housecats at beginning of 2015: 2
• Housecats at end of 2015: 3
• Fosterlings: 17
• Fosterlings adopted: 16
• Remaining fosters from 2015: 1
• Litterboxes: 5
• Toys on sticks that survived the year: 4
• Toys on sticks that did not survive the year: 3
• Happy Kristen hearts: 1

Friday Night Vet Night!

It was a action packed adventure night for Madam Lenore and Mr Edgar Linton. Lenore was already scheduled to visit the fine folks at Westchase Veterinary for a post-op check and Linton got a unexpected trip right with her.

Here's the run down of my hot Friday night date night:

Lenore

Lenore is awesome. She's happy. She purrs like a motor and her wounds are healing just fine. She's also an escape artist who can untie a double bow and take off her own collar. Seriously, it's like she has thumbs. She gets to spend a few more days in the Bathroom of Chill before returning to Gen Pop.

Linton

Linton came from a litter of kittens that had a rough start. However, since intake his siblings are thriving, whereas he is not. All three kittens came in with diarrhea but after intake medications were applied, his siblings got better. Linton, not so much. He also was favoring a paw and limping, but it was thought that might be a slight sprain and I was told to let it heal for a few days and see what happened. Well, it didn't get better.

So, with bloated belly, diarrhea, a limp and and extremely inflamed anus (which, might someday make for a solid punk band name), Linton got the go-ahead to get a checkup. In short, he's a sick kitty. He's dehydrated, likely has an infection lurking in his digestive system, has a joint that might be permanently damaged, and for the time being he has a very ouchy backside. I'll be kind and not include a photo of that.

This has won Linton a private, all expenses paid, convalescent retreat in the middle of beautiful Tampa, Florida. His quarters include a snuggly afghan, a private bath and private dining quarters. He will also enjoy toys that shall not be stolen by his siblings and he shan't be pounced upon by a soul until he is feeling a bit better.

His luxurious quarters are the inside of a very large dog crate in my living room. Additionally, tonight I learned that disposable lasagna pans make decent insta-litterboxes.

Linton's treatment plan consists of:

• Sub-cutaneous fluids administered at the vet office. I got to watch a kitten leak extra fluid. That was... unique.
• Metronidazole (anti-diarrheal medication) and Albon (sulfadimethoxine, an antibiotic used to treat coccidia infections which are a common cause of severe diarrhea) mix, administered twice daily in .5 ml doses.
• Buprenex (pain medication) administered one every 12 hours in a .3 ml dose.
• Rest
• Snuggles

Blessedly, both medications are delivered by oral route, so I don't need to make him more miserable by shoving solid objects down his throat or... inserted by other means. 

Linton goes back in 7 days for a re-check where we'll also culture up a stool sample and see what's cooking in his insides. Hopefully, his inflamed wrist is also a result of infection and the swelling will be reduced by then so we can figure out what is going on in the joint. 

Annabel Lee

The last of the original Poe kittens, Annabel Lee is still with me and will soon be looking for a new forever home. She's best friends with foster kitten Lenore, so we're hoping to find them a placement where both kittens can go together.

Lady, why you wakes me? I was sleepings in the basket so happy.

I sleeps on faces too!

She's a sweet little puffball in black with long fur but a thinish coat that gives her the look of the Lykoi cat. It has been noted that this kitten looks like werewolf, wookie, cat, Scottish Terrier and Grover DNA all got mixed together and took cat form.

She's also one of the most sweet and loving kittens I have had the pleasure with which to work. Her current hobbies include chasing toys, exploring boxes, sitting on my shoulder like a terrible parrot and attempting to sleep on my face.

Currently, she is waiting by the door to the bathroom where Lenore is in her post surgery quarantine. They chirp back an forth to each other through the gap under the door. I've very much hoping that Lenore's checkup appointment tomorrow will allow me to put these kittens back together.

Sacked out after playing with an Amazon box and filler paper, plus some new toys.

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me.

Oh, Lenore.

Lenore, a 7-8 week old brown tabby was found as a lone kitten in a feral colony. She was collected by a local concerned neighbor and turned in to St Francis. When she arrived in the transport box, she had made herself about as small as she could manage. Since she was going to be paired with Annabel Lee as a roomie, I picked another Poe name for her: Lenore. When I picked her up and held her against me, the purring began.

Once the lady who delivered Lenore left, I started a general exam to get an overview of her condition.First, she was really, really dirty and gritty and second, she had the single worst ear mite infestation I have ever seen in my life. When I gently lifted her ears, there was a solid mass of black. Ear mite frass, wax, debris... in short, a mess. I could not see any of her ear canal on either ear. She was probably just about deaf from the blockage. And, we were off to the sink.

I spend the next hour cleaning her ears. Using swabs, tweezers, warm water and an irrigation bulb I worked away at layer after layer of black muck. I am certain this was uncomfortable. I gave Lenore lots of breaks and allowed her to shake her head between sections of the cleaning. This allows the cat to get some of the liquid out of their ears but has the secondary helpful yet gross effect of helping to eject ear funk. I worked to the point that the major plugs had been cleared from her ear canals. Half a box of cotton swabs and an hour and a half later, I was pretty sure she needed to be done with bathing for the night. 

What I discovered under all the grit and dirt was a rather pretty brown tabby. After the shockingly long bath session, I burrito rolled her in a towel and held her for the next hour and a half as she dried off and warmed up. She purred the entire time. 

When she had finally reached a state of dry-ish, it was off to the Kittenarium for the evening. During the bath I had noticed that her tail was at an odd angle and when she was finally clean and dry I could get a better look. Now that Lenore had decided I was not going to murder her or drown her in the sink, she seemed to think I was pretty ok and let me get some decent pictures.

So, yeah, tails aren't supposed to have right angles. That was a problem. I handled the tail carefully but she didn't seem to be in any pain. I concluded that her caudal vertebra were completely dis-articulated, meaning parts of her tail were no longer internally attached to her spine. That's a problem. When a piece of a body receives that level of trauma, not only are bones broken, buy often nerves and blood supply are affected too. A tail without a blood supply can become necrotic, which is not only fascinatingly stinky, but also super dangerous.

After careful inspection, I found that the tail had no open wounds but appeared to be damaged in three places. Two obvious breaks at the end of the tail, covered in scabs, and above that another section of scabbing with matted fur. Lenore carefully kept her tail underneath her while walking.

On the next morning, Friday, I contacted the charity that for which I foster and received approval to make a vet visit for Lenore. I called the vet and explained the situation and got us an appointment for 3pm on Sunday. Hooray, right?

Then I got home from work and went to check on my charges. Annabel and Lenore both wanted attention so I picked up Lenore and held her against my chest as Annabel curled up in my lap. Yay, happiness and purring. Then I felt a warm and moist feeling seeping through my shirt. I figured I had been peed on and lifted Lenore off of me. Nope, not pee. Urine would have been less alarming. One of Lenore's scabs had cracked open. I could see inside her tail.

Still holding Lenore I called the vet and had our appointment moved up to the next morning. After the call I took a close look at the tail wound and found that, yes, the caudal vertebra was internally severed. Everything below the wound was no longer connected to the spine or musculature. Basically, the tail was attached with skin, scabs and fur. Awesome...

After consulting with the Vet we decided that I should bandage our gal up for the night so she wouldn't get any new particulates into the wound (like cat litter) especially because she was nearly dragging her tail behind her, unable to hold it out of the way because it was broken. My friend Troy dropped by to lend me a hand. In short, don't ever try to bandage a wound on an animal without a second pair of hands. It can go sideways pretty quickly. Troy was a champ, and perhaps because he is 6'5" and a big man, Lenore mostly just stared and him and didn't try to take off.

I trimmed off some fur, applied a non-stick pad, wrapped the tail in gauze and then surgical taped the whole thing in place. All during this, Lenore didn't seem to exhibit signs of pain, meaning her nerves to the area are likely damaged and she wasn't feeling any discomfort.

I set Miss Pathetic back in the Kittenasium and we all settled in for the night. She ate, drank and played with Annabel like nothing was wrong. In the morning, we were off to Westchase Veterinary Center & Emergency. This Vet center is a partner for the foster charity. The techs and vet staff are amazing and kind.

We hung out in a room for a bit. Lenore was a champ, purring so much that Dr. Barr could even listen for heart sounds because the kitten was purring too loudly. Dr Barr wanted to take a closer look at the tail and have her ears cleaned some more and we headed to the back. The vet and techs shaved down Lenore's tail and discovered that the end was indeed held in place with scab and matter fur. As they cleaned the area, more of the tail began to detach. By the time they had finished the cleaning, Lenore was about 4 inches shorter.

WARNING: SOMEWHAT GRAPHIC PHOTOS OF CAT INSIDES AHEAD.

You have been warned... so, here's Lenore's slightly shorter tail.

The end of Lenore's tail had become necrotic and likely would have fallen off in the next day or two. With the washing and cleaning, we just hastened the process along. The dead tail end stunk to high heaven and I think were all relieved when it fell away.

It was pretty gross, but I knew we were in good hands when all the vet techs were entirely fascinated by the broken off tail end and tail stump. Through the process, Lenore purred. The above picture shows her with ears still up, sporting her new sassy shorty tail stump.

Dr Barr gave Lenore a shot of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory medication and decided to let that work and knock down the infection before more was done. Another portion of Lenore's tail will be amputated up to a point where there is healthy skin that can be sutured shut over the tail. Right now, she has a stump that is slowly scabbing over. I clean the stump a couple of times daily and Lenore doesn't notice more than that I am keeping her from playing, napping or eating. She's a pretty fly little cat.

She plays, she eats, she naps and she purrs. And she's tough as hell. Someone is going to be a very lucky human when Lenore is done with being broken and heads off to a new home. Someone is going to be very, very lucky indeed. For now, she's clearly doing hard time...

The Collected Works of Poe

Three skinny and lethargic kittens that smelled like urine.

The Poe Collective came into my life on October 24th, 2015.

The Naming of Cats

Finding homes for stray kittens is hard enough, for black kittens, doubly so. To give these tiny, ink black kittens a chance I decided to capitalize on the combination of black cats, Halloween and my love of literature to find some really good names.

Thus, Annabel Lee, Montresor and Edgar Allan were named.

Edgar Allan and Montresor were an adorable bundle of brother cat that enjoys playing, leaping, pouncing and napping together. As such, I worked to find this bonded pair a home together. Annabel Lee was largely disinterested and mostly just wanted to be where the people were.

Annabel Lee, part kitten, part werewolf?
It was as if someone mixed the DNA of Grover, a wookie, a Scottish Terrier and a housecat.

The challenge of fostering kittens is that they come to you in all kinds of sizes, shapes and conditions. In the case of the Poes, they were malnourished and dehydrated. When I first picked them up all I could feel was rib and spine. Although reported at 5 to 6 weeks old, they weighed in at right around a pound each and were still staggering when walking. Their development and size looked more like that of 3-4 week old kittens. Their mother had been spayed several days before the kittens were turned into the foster group and the kibble they had been given was not for tiny kittens. In short, they were skinny, smelly and hungry.

Another fun part of this story is that the kittens were not litter trained. Their momma had been given access to a litter box in another room. The kittens got to go wherever they should squat. That made for an exciting first couple of days and the Poes answered the call of the wild anywhere they heard it's siren song.

The Fattening

The rescue group provided me with canned kitten food and baby cat kibble. I set up a bowl of the kibble for free feeding along with two water stations. Three times daily the kittens were given the canned kitten food with KMR mixed. Kitten Milk Replacement is essentially powdered milk for cats that contains the right amount of fats and proteins that kittens would obtain from normal mother's milk.

When given the wet food / cat milk mix, the Poes would set upon it like wild things. Their faces were so buried in the bowl that they would emerge with faces dotted with gobbets of food, providing a fun snack for postprandial grooming. Yum. Squishy food and kitten fur together.

All three kittens began to rapidly gain weight and started to look like healthy and tumbly kittens in about 6 days.

Exit, two kittens

Edgar Allan and Montresor were adopted as a pair on November 4th, 2015. The brothers went off to live with a pair of sisters. Apparently, the slightly timid but loving Edgar Allan went to the girl just like him, and the ever exploring and exuberant Montresor was paired with a young lady just like him.

Annabel Lee is still running around my home, but has become a close companion to a kitten in need named Lenore.

On their last day with me, Edgar Allan and Montresor went to work with me. In addition to providing my desk with a brief infestation of kittens, they also brought kitten therapy to my coworkers.