Tag: Funds

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Another Double Vet Visit

Poor Charlie's Nose, 6-2-15
Poor Charlie’s Nose, 6-2-15

Sunday evening we noticed Charlie’s nose looked split and raw. The wet, squishy part of his nose. He looked like he was in a little pain, but it didn’t prevent him from running for his food bowl or jumping in the litter box while it was being cleaned. So I followed my 48-hour rule. If things get bad, if blood is gushing, if drinking of water stops, all bets are off. But otherwise we wait 48 hours before going to the vet.

Monday didn’t show much improvement. Worse. On Monday evening, the Dude started doing something weird with his mouth and caterwauling randomly. So I called for a vet appoint first thing on Tuesday. We won a 3PM spot.

I was sitting working when Charlie crawled into my lap to have a nap. I thought he was purring but on closer inspection, he was shivering. I called the vet for a sooner appointment. At 11AM I wrestled the two boys into their cat carriers and hauled them into the car. Charlie started freaking out, rolled onto his back panting and legs waggling in the air. Meowing and the works.

This was their first vet visit and they were super nervous. Charlie went first for a weight (about 11.5 pounds!) and then the Dude (10.5 pounds). Hearts, gums, temperatures, internal parts. Everything got checked.

There was some back and forth about possible problems. The deal was to get Charlie’s infection under control, and The Dude was a mystery. They got worming meds. Charlie got an antibiotics jab. We got some antibiotic wash to go home with for Charlie’s nose and the Dude’s mouth.

On his release, Charlie crawled into his brother’s carrier and curled up behind The Dude. We had to sort them out before I could schlep them out to the car because they are big boys. Arriving home, the slunk out of their carriers and departed. Charlie promptly found a hiding spot in a closet where he hid the rest of the day. The Dude slunk around, hiding in doorways and around corners, glaring.

This just adds to the feeding and health regimen that fills my day. I sometimes get weary of the constant work, but I feel like these kittehs are going to be the beloved pets of wonderful people one day and I woe it to the cats and the people to take care of them as if they were my own. Plus, credit cards, right?

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Double Trip to the Vet

Clone duckface, 5-29-15
Clone /Little Bean with EGC on her upper lip, easily treated with a round of steroids

I noticed Little Bean had some bumps on her upper lip a week or so ago and didn’t think much of it. She acts timid but she throws down with her brothers like anyone else. I figured she bumped it.

But then she came and sat on my lap to cuddle and looked up at me with full duckface. Upper lip puffed out and distorting her profile. A little Googling brought me to a fantastic article about EGC. http://www.2ndchance.info/egc.htm

First thing the next morning I called the vet for an appointment. And then I called back so I could bring Elusive for a look at her UTI. And hopefully get the girls both wormer pills.

Sure enough, Dr. Doll had a look at the swollen and hard duckface and suggested a gentle round of steroids to get it under control. Elusive was more of a challenge because we needed a urine sample and just had nothing to go on. They got their worming pills though. And we got Sammy (the dog’s) arthritis pills refilled.

While we were waiting for the pills and paperwork, another patient came in with her dog and two kids. The vet office is a big, echoing space and the kids immediately had a shrieking match. Mom yelled at them to stop eventually. They then started up chanting ‘puppyPUPPYpuppy’ for a while until they were shouted at to stop eventually. My cats were shivering and freaking out, and I could hear the dogs in the back of the clinic freaking out. I’m totally being judgy in that situation because my mom had The Look. And if that didn’t work, she had The Finger.

Anyhow, Little Bean took home tiny steroid pills (after I drove across town to pick them up), and I had a bag of fake litter, a vial, and a squeazy thing to suck up a urine sample from Elusive. And they were a few days away from being worm-free.

Although they chirped the whole way to the vet, they didn’t have a lot to say on the way home. One more round of stuff to add to the morning and night animal routine. Tiny pills to a tiny, cranky black kitteh.

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Getting 8 Kittens Fixed

Fundraising, 8-16-14
After two days we were almost half way there!

Fundraising is a challenge, but often the only option.

I can only offer a thousands thanks to our many fiends who like cats or like us enough to pretend. We are faced with getting eight kittens (going on teenagers) fixed for adoption. Even going to No More Homeless Pets: Operation Petsnip clinic was going to cost $640. Money we didn’t have but I was willing to put on a credit card if I had to.

The five kittens we had were starting to smell like cats, and the boys were nipping at their sister’s necks in a suspicious way. And all of our forays into possibly adoptions were met with “Are they fixed?” A very responsible question, but eye-opening for me. We needed these furballs nipped a.s.a.p.

I put out a call for help on Facebook for friends to help with donations to my PayPal account. Yes, I had looked at the crowd souring / crowd funding services, but I wanted to keep it simple. Over a few days we had reached the half-way point. Another few nudges on Facebook brought in almost the rest of the funds needed.

With a total of eight kittens, we needed each to get snipped ($50), rabies ($15), and parasites ($15). When I called to make the appointment or the two girls first, I was told we could get free microchips just for now because of a shared grant. Bingo!

Once these kids are fixed up, they’re going to be highly adoptable. All thanks to my lovely friends and family who pitched together to help us out.

Thanks to:
Margaret & Charlie
Amanda B.
Samba & Family
Gopala
Fancine & Paul T.
Erica K.
Linne & Nicole
Damian B.
Nellie E.
Allyson D.
Katie C.
Sarah & Cameron
Kim Ann
Renee R.

[We are still $30 short but I am moving forward with getting all of the kittens fixed as soon as possible.]