Roxie
This is the story of a starving kitten who found herself in the right place at exactly the right time. I journaled her rescue, rehabilitation, and integration into my family on one of the online Pet Forums to which I subscribe. Following is a version of that chronicle, edited to remove comments made by other forum members and some of my own unrelated responses.
September 18, 2007
12:07 AM
Yup, it’s happened again. I was REALLY hoping that after no new cats showed up here last year, the streak was broken, and whoever kept dumping cats on us had decide to quit.
No such luck.
When Joe came home tonight at about 8:30, he was leaning on the horn all the way into the yard. I know what that means. It’s a signal to me that he’s got company and to get ready! I slipped on my barn boots and walked out to meet him and the “company” in his car. Sure enough, snuggled up against his chest was a tiny, hairy little beast, purring away.
This one is just a baby – my first kitten dumpee. Baby has a flat, smooshy face and the long coat of a Persian, and appears to be around 4 mos old. Too squirmy for me to hold still long enough to part the hair and determine gender, (s)he is very, very friendly and very, very happy to have been rescued and fed. Poor little thing is skeletal, weighing in at a whopping 3.75 lbs.
It’s little wonder that Baby was happy to be rescued. Joe found the kitten just before our property line in an area where a mother fox has been raising her three kits all summer. When Joe drove up on them, Baby was sitting in the middle of the road with one of the young foxes standing no more than 5′ away, very probably contemplating kitten for supper. When Joe got out of the car, the fox ran off, and Baby just cried and cried until he picked him/her up and drove up to the house.
Baby’s coat was full of burrs and mats. While (s)he was busy inhaling food, I managed to comb out all of the burrs and some of the mats. I came away with a fistful of mouse grey hair that was as large as the kitten! This little one still looks mighty ragged, but his/her deplorable condition isn’t dampening Baby’s enthusiasm for loving.
Baby will be spending the night in the master bathroom where I hope there will be some recognition of the purpose of a litterbox. If Baby does use the box overnight, I will expand his/her territory to include the master bedroom tomorrow and put the baby gates back up in the doorway between the bedroom and living room so that everyone can become acquainted with our newest family member.
My vet is on vacation for another 10 days, which should give me time to put enough weight on this kitten to improve overall health so that (s)he can be safely vaccinated and dewormed. Neutering or spaying will wait for another couple of months, assuming I am correct in my guess of the Baby’s current age. I suppose it’s possible that this kitten could be older than 4 months and just badly malnourished.
Fortunately, “malnourished” is a temporary condition that certainly won’t last long around here. I can’t wait to see this little raggedy ann or andy grow up into the stunning, amber-eyed, blue-coated beauty which is obviously this animal’s destiny.
Time to make room for one more at the dinner table.
September 18, 2007
06:00 AM
Baby’s face is completely flat. In fact, his head is so big and round that it’s completely out of proportion to his emaciated body right now. This poor thing is nothing but bones under all that matted hair. I can count every rib and vertebra when I pet him. He ate a whole small bowl full of EVO last night and drank a bowl of water, and now his belly is all tight and distended. He’s not complaining, though. In fact, his motor never shuts off when I’m in the room with him, and he’s even playful! He flopped down on his side in front of me while I sat on the floor with him; then he grabbed my hand and started chomping and kicking while I tickled his belly. He’s going to be a feisty little twit, this one.
I still haven’t managed to confirm his gender, but he has a decidedly male demeanor. If Baby is a he, he hasn’t yet developed those telltale boy parts.
Baby must have spent much of the night crying to be let out of the bathroom because he’s all hoarse this morning. Just little croaks coming out of him now. He really wants to be where the action is, but that isn’t going to happen until he’s been checked out by my vet. He’s sneezing a bit this morning, and he’s almost certainly got ear mites. I expect he’s got a belly full of parasites, too. Oh, and he unfortunately thinks that the cat carrier makes a much more suitable litterbox than the litterbox itself. Yep, this guy’s on the quarantine list until I can put some weight on him and get him a clean bill of health.
As far as Joe’s rescue is concerned, he’s such a softie that he’ll pick up any animal he can get in his car. If he could have managed it, I have no doubt I’d have ended up raising those three fox kits myself this summer. 😉 When Joe rescued a dumped kitten in town though, I put my foot down. I told him that there was NO WAY I could take in every animal dumped in town along with all the animals dumped here, so that kitten became his piano studio cat in town.
Baby makes #14 in the feline ranks. The dogs currently number only 3.
September 18, 2007
06:33 AM
I neglected to mention that we had rain on and off all day yesterday. Within a couple of hours of Baby’s rescue, the rain turned to severe thunderstorms.
Starvation, foxes, severe thunderstorms … Baby sure landed in the right place at the right time last night when Joe drove home.
September 18, 2007
06:55 AM
“Baby” is just a placeholder name until this little one grows into his/her real identity.
Hey, at least it’s better than Fox Bait!
September 18, 2007
12:34 PM
Although I knew it wasn’t a great idea, I couldn’t bear leaving Baby in the bathroom all alone, so I put up the baby gates and gave him access to the bedroom, as well. He has rewarded me for my kindness by spending the morning having diarrhea all over the bed – neither welcome nor unexpected. He still hasn’t touched the litterbox, but he’s been eating like a starved little pig. I can only hope that his system adjusts quickly to his new food so that he can at least start leaving more solid poops all over the place.
This is one brave baby, though. He’s unfazed by all of the household animals who have gone up to the gates to check him out. He’ll walk right up and sniff nose to nose through the gates, even with the dogs. Not a skittish bone in his bony little body. He’s plenty tough with me, too. He has absolutely no qualms about nailing me with tooth and claw when I pull mats out of his coat, and he rather enjoys rolling onto his back so that he can grab my hand and kick, claw, and bite me just for fun. I’ll be amazed if this beast turns out to be female. He’s sure acting all boy!
He also bears a remarkable resemblance to Edward G. Robinson (in his latter years), so I’m considering the names Ed, Eddie or Robinson (Robin, for short) for him. Or maybe I’ll just call him Capone. I can see this little guy toting a tiny machine gun around the house, wiping out anyone who dares get in his way. LOL!
Oh great. Two years ago we were invaded by The Three Mouseketeers. Now it’s a gangster! What next? Hannibal Lechter???
September 18, 2007
03:45 PM
Joe and I were worried about potential littermates, so while I got Baby settled into the bathroom last night, I sent Joe back out in the dark to search for more kittens in the same area where he found this one. Fortunately (or unfortunately), no other kittens were found.
September 18, 2007
11:05 PM
A friend came over to meet Baby tonight. My friend has a lot more experience with kittens than I do and guesstimated this one’s age at 5-6 mos., though I still think 4-5 mos is more likely. She also thinks Baby might be a female, but she didn’t have her glasses with her and couldn’t be certain of what she thought she was seeing amid all that hiney hair. I’m hoping that she is wrong on both counts, because a 6-month-old female has the potential to be pregnant (not likely since this kitten is so emaciated), and I sure as HECK don’t want that! So, I still don’t know if I’m dealing with a little boy or a little girl. Joe did tell me tonight, though, that he thinks Baby looks like Angela Lansbury. LOL! In any event, the naming will have to wait until after gender is verified.
I’ll keep Baby in the bedroom and let him/her gain weight until my vet gets back in town on the 24th, then I’ll see if I can get in for a checkup. I won’t be doing any vaccinating, deworming, or desexing until Baby has gained at least a couple of pounds, though. I’m expecting Baby’s vet check to identify all the normal, manageable issues: ear mites, fleas, internal parasites, herpes infection, etc., but nothing serious. I expect, also, that the weepiness under both eyes is probably related to his Persian genetics and will be a chronic condition.
Baby is tucked back in the bathroom tonight. Joe decided he didn’t want to risk rolling over into kitty diarrhea in the middle on the night. Wise decision.
September 19, 2007
07:38 AM
I gave Baby a larger litterbox in the bathroom last night, and this morning there were all sorts of gifts in it for me, some of which were even fairly firm and normal looking. Yippee! Maybe now the bed will be safe.
Baby is also feeling more playful and affectionate today. (S)he hasn’t been overly fond of being handled by me for the last 36 hrs because each time I touch him/her, I pull out a few more mats. Poor Baby will be naked before too long at this rate. But I think maybe (s)he is starting to realize that it feels better when the mats aren’t constantly pulling on his/her skin.
I wish I could capture this kitten’s face in a photo as it looks in real life. I’d have you guys rolling on the floor. This baby’s oversized, round head; huge, round, owly eyes; and jutty-outy, overshot jaw are absolutely hysterical! If ever there was a defiant face on a cat, this Baby has it! But I just can’t capture the full effect of that jutty jaw in a photo, and I think Baby is starting to get a little insulted by the way I laugh every time I look at him/her. Heck, I’m laughing just sitting here THINKING about that little gangster face! Baby is her/her own caricature!
I’m going to take my camera into the bedroom and try again.
September 19, 2007
08:18 PM
Not only would most guys not think twice about driving right by this kitten, but a lot of them wouldn’t think twice about driving right OVER this kitten! Fortunately for all concerned, Joe is not like most guys.
I do know the grammatical rule about sexing kittens (colon for a boy, upside down exclamation point for a girl), but I’ve still never been any good at it. In the case of Baby, it’s even more difficult because of the long hair that hides the critical parts, Baby’s own squirminess, and the fact that this kitten currently has extremely smelly diarrhea. (She) already bit me hard enough to draw blood while I was pulling out mats. I’m not eager to anger the gangster into a repeat performance.
Nice, well-behaved kitties? Not in this household! I’m the type who encourages rowdy, physical play. My kids are as obnoxious as I am. LOL!
I think the chances of this kitten being legitimately lost are slim to none. The nearest farm to where Joe found him is more than a mile away as the crow flies through the woods – woods heavily populated with coyotes, wolves, foxes, black bears, and a variety of large raptors and other predators. I don’t even believe that any of the adult felines who have shown up here over the years have been “lost” strays. If this kitten is someone’s lost pet, (s)he’s been wandering around these woods, successfully avoiding being eaten, long enough to become emaciated and full of burrs and mats. As Judge Judy says, “If it doesn’t make sense, it isn’t true.”
I suspect, as does my friend, that there is someone in the area with a Persian that keeps having unwanted litter. Remember that Annabelle, the beautiful pointed Ragdoll, showed up here three years ago, full of milk but with no litter that we could find, sporting a felted mat 4″ wide extending from her shoulders all the way down her spine to her tail. I have absolutely no doubt that she was dumped on our road, probably by the same person who dumped this little gangster baby. I don’t know anyone around here with a Persian, but there must be one somewhere.
All of that said, I don’t suppose anything is outside of the realm of possibility.
September 19, 2007
09:08 PM
If Baby is a male, he’s not old enough for the “buttons” to have formed yet.
September 20, 2007
06:42 AM
Baby has already picked up about 1/2 lb of weight in the last 2 1/2 days! First weigh-in on the first night (which was AFTER Baby had gorged on his/her first meal) was 3.75 lbs. This morning Baby weighs in at 4.20 lbs.
Weigh to go, Baby!!!
September 20, 2007
07:00 AM
Baby’s system is already adjusting to regular meals, and his stool has firmed up quite a bit, so I don’t think rice will be necessary. This poor thing was starved, is all. I can still sharply feel every vertebra and rib. His hip bones stick out, as do all of his other joints. At this rate, though, he’ll be getting some meat on those bones very quickly.
That first night, he ate like a pig until his little tummy was tight as a drum and sticking out in all directions. He also drank an entire small bowl of water. I was so concerned that something might burst that I called the vet! But Baby did manage to process that food, and now his tummy is back to a somewhat normal size. His appetite has also diminished substantially now that he’s had the opportunity to eat his fill. I’m very glad to see his digestive system normalizing.
September 20, 2007
07:42 AM
It’s the downy undercoat that causes all the trouble. Some cats have an undercoat that is so fine and thick and fluffy that when it sheds, it just gets stuck and mats in there. I have long-haired littermates with entirely different undercoats. Lamie’s is very fine and thick and mats horribly when she sheds in the early spring unless I’m extremely vigilant about pulling out the small mats as soon as they start to form. Pretty, on the other hand, has a lot less undercoat and doesn’t mat nearly as badly as her sister.
The baby obviously has a downy undercoat that I’m going to have to keep dematted. So does Annabelle.
The end of winter is when mine start to shed their undercoats and mat. Once I get Lamie past the spring shed, her coat stays mat-free for the rest of the year. Annabelle, on the other hand, sheds undercoat and mats all year.
September 20, 2007
07:50 AM
Baby is using the litterbox now, but not exclusively. There were a couple of poops on the bed yesterday. Fortunately, all pee seems to be going in the litterbox. I think Baby’s getting things figured out.
I’ve got a new equine vet coming out this morning to deal with the horses. Maybe I’ll be able to talk him into at least telling me what gender Baby is. Then again, I’ve had vets be fooled by kittens and get it wrong, too.
September 21, 2007
02:23 PM
I still don’t know if Baby is a she or a he. The vet who was out here the other day hasn’t touched a dog or cat professionally since he was in vet school (which from the looks of him was last week). So I figured he wouldn’t do any better sexing the kitten than I would. I think this is going to have to wait until my regular vet gets back in town next week.
Baby has been pretty good about using the litterbox for the last day or two, but still seems to forget and use the bed for poops occasionally during daylight hours. I’m sure (s)he will outgrow that behavior before long.
I’ve been trying to get more pics, but I’m having trouble. If I turn off the flash, I can get open-eye pics, but they’re all blurry. If I turn on the flash, I get rid of the blur, but Baby’s eyes are always shut. I’ll keep trying, though.
Baby’s food and water consumption have slowed down quite a lot, so I expect weight gain will slow down proportionately. Probably not a bad thing since Baby’s tummy no longer looks so tight and distended, but I’m eager for this little thing to get some meat over those bones. It’s hard to even pet him/her without thinking I’m causing discomfort. It doesn’t help that Baby no longer trusts me not to pull out mats all the time, so we’ve been spending more time playing with a long feather that Baby chases madly. It’s so funny to watch Baby’s whole head quiver back and forth while I shake the tip of the feather in front of his/her face. LOL! Dizzy Baby!
I’ll take the camera back in there and try again. I’m bound to get postable pics sooner or later.
September 21, 2007
03:26 PM
OK, I managed to get a couple of pics that, though still blurry, were sharpenable in PhotoShop.
This first pic shows the gangster’s flat little profile and jutty chin.
September 21, 2007
03:32 PM
And here’s a pic showcasing Baby’s big, owly, amber eyes.
September 21, 2007
03:54 PM
In order to grasp the reality of this kitten’s face, you have to stand in front of a mirror, imagine yourself to be a cat, open your eyes as wide as possible, and jut your chin forward as far as possible. Only then will you have some idea of what I see each time I look into this Baby’s face. LOL!
The other cats have shown only mild curiosity about Baby, occasionally stopping at the gates to peer in for a quick glimpse. The dogs, on the other hand, are DYING to get in there to check Baby out. Tasha wants to know if Baby will be herdable, and Wookie wants to know if (s)he will be chewable. Pippin just wants to know why the other two are so interested.
September 21, 2007
08:19 PM
As raggedy as Baby’s coat appears in the photos – and it IS still that raggedy – what you’re seeing is primarily the long, dirty, unmatted topcoat. I have already removed the majority of the matted undercoat. Baby does still have some matting around the hindquarters, but I’m working on that, as well. Within the next week, I should have Baby completely mat free.
As far as early neutering is concerned, there are no vets in this area who will perform early spay/neuter. Unless Baby traveled here from Duluth (100 miles) or Minneapolis (200+ miles), (s)he is still entire.
September 21, 2007
09:25 PM
Trust doesn’t have a lot to do with it when a 150+ lb determined woman pits her debating skills against a 4+ lb emaciated kitten. Of course, my hand is still recovering from the rather nasty bite wound inflicted by the gangster when I pulled out a large mat from the sensitive area under his tail. There’s a reason why I’ve been avoiding admitting the rest of his rear end. 😉
September 22, 2007
08:18 AM
Baby is destined to be a gorgeous adult, but (s)he will always look like a gangster to me – the flat-faced, Persian types always do. They just always have such a gruff, tough expression.
I don’t expect Baby to tell me his/her name, because I figure a kitten so young and obviously neglected has probably never had a name before. What I don’t understand, though, is how a kitten who is so starved and neglected can also be so friendly. Baby is acting like a kitten who has been handled a lot by humans, but who would take the time to handle a kitten and not feed it? It just doesn’t make sense.
Nose kisses really aren’t possible right now. Baby’s nose is so flat that I can’t kiss it without kissing the entire front of his/her face. So Baby gets lots of top-of-the-head kisses, instead.
To my frustration, Baby’s weight this morning shows a loss from the other day. (S)he is down to 4.05 lbs this morning. Of course, that’s only a 2 1/2 oz loss, and that may be accountable relative to when he last ate before being weighed, but I still want to see GAIN not LOSS. Hey, I just remembered that I have some A/D down in the basement! I’m going to go get a can and start giving it to Baby in small meals throughout the day. That should put weight on this scrawny little thing!
September 22, 2007
08:41 AM
Baby’s in there happily lapping up a little A/D gruel. I’ll give him 1/8 of a small can per feeding every few hours along with his free choice Evo and see if that’ll provide the calories he needs for steady weight gain.
September 22, 2007
12:56 PM
Although nothing is outside of the realm of possibility, it is extraordinarily unlikely that this baby is someone’s lost pet. Although there is a lot of summer tourist traffic within a 25 mile radius of my farm, there is absolutely none within 4.5 miles. The nearest place where a tourist would be likely to stop and possibly lose an animal would be the gas station in town 9.5 miles away. The tourists who were in the area were gone after Labor Day.
I live in a very remote, farming area in northern Minnesota. My farm is situation within the boundaries of a national forest, surrounded on all sides by forested land. My “driveway” is actually a township road that deadends in my front yard after traveling 1.3 miles through the woods, and my farm is the only residence on this road. My nearest neighbor is over a mile away as the crow flies – about 1.5 miles down the roads.
My road is a prime spot for dumping unwanted animals because the perpetrators can drive back here into the woods and dump them without ever being seen. And if the perpetrators happen to know anything about me, they know I’ll care for any animal who shows up here before being eaten by the many predators in the surrounding woods.
I don’t know whether my vet has a chip reader. If he does, I’ll have him scan Baby just for kicks. This kitten, though, did not end up all the way down here without assistance. I’d bet big bucks that somebody just wanted her/him gone.
September 22, 2007
03:00 PM
OK, since I am constantly telling folks who find animals to do the same, I have just called the sheriff’s dept. and filed a found animal report. I’ve now done my civic duty in terms of legal notification. If there’s somebody out there looking for Baby, it’s up to them now to contact the authorities.
I can just see a 4 mo old kitten, crossing busy highways filled with grain-toting semi-tractor-trailers, then spending weeks with neither food nor water wandering more than 9 miles through forests rife with coyotes, wolves, bears, foxes, and various other predators, suffering through three nights of below freezing temps and our first snowfall of the season, only to end up in my driveway in the middle of nowhere. That’s much more likely than someone dumping the leftovers from an unwanted litter on my road. 😉
Anyhow, law enforcement now knows where Baby is and will inform anyone who calls them in search of their lost kitten. I won’t be holding my breath waiting for their call. 😉
September 22, 2007
03:57 PM
I grew up in the north shore suburbs of Chicago where companion animals were valued and treated as family members. It was a real adjustment for me moving into this part of the country where animals are considered utilitarian possessions (farm animals) or worthy only of human harvest (hunting). Many people up here don’t value animals as companions like I was raised to do.
I don’t think anyone went to any expense to acquire Baby. I suspect Baby is a product of one of the countless unspayed females around this area – probably a barn cat that happens to have Persian genetics. Baby is just the latest in a string of 10 strays, ferals, and semi-ferals who have shown up on my farm over the last 7 yrs.
September 23, 2007
04:24 PM
A couple more pics for you guys …
“Kill the Feather” is Baby’s favorite game. I don’t dare imagine how that’s going to translate once Baby is integrated into the rest of the household where (s)he will be faced with our most aggressive cat who just happens to be named Feather. 😮
September 23, 2007
04:26 PM
Don’t even THINK about pullin’ any more mats offa me!!!
September 23, 2007
08:48 PM
How about Roxie? Sounds like a great gun moll name to me. 😉
September 23, 2007
09:26 PM
I like Moxie, too. I’ll have to spend some time with that name and see if I think I can use it with Baby. Problem is, I knew a Dobie girl named Moxie back when I was a teenager, and I’m not sure I can attach that name to this kitten.
September 23, 2007
09:45 PM
Ugh, this naming thing is going to be more difficult than I had hoped. I just wrote down the names of all of the other cats and dogs so that I could more easily check to make sure I don’t choose a name for this kitten that sounds too much like anyone else’s name. So far I haven’t had too much trouble since the only two names that sound fairly similar and Wookie and Footsie. I yell at them both so often that it really doesn’t seem to matter that their names sound alike. They’re usually both in trouble, anyway. 😉
I don’t think either Roxie or Moxie will work for Baby, though, since both sound too similar to Wookie and Footsie. I don’t want Baby thinking that I’m yelling at him/her all the time.
Man oh man, how am I ever going to come up with a suitable name that doesn’t sound too much like any of the other 16 household names?
September 24, 2007
10:45 AM
My vet finally made it back from vacation today, and I just got off the phone with him. Paul assures me that if Baby were a male, the testes would have made their appearance by now. Since there are no such things on this kitten, I am now willing to make the leap of faith that she is female, probably around 5 months. Since Paul is booked solid for the next couple of weeks, he’s going to try to send some ear mite medicine and dewormer into town for Joe to bring home. That should help kickstart Baby’s recovery to good health until Paul can see her in person.
Baby is definitely starting to look better, though. I noticed a little shine to her coat this morning which certainly hasn’t been there before, and she’s back up to 4.25 lbs! Since adding the A/D to her diet, she has redeveloped diarrhea, but I expect that will resolve on its own in another day or two once her system adjusts to the richness of the food.
I’m back to considering Roxie as a name for this little one. “R” is a more audible consonant sound than “M”, so it should be easier to distinguish “Roxie” from “Footsie” or “Wookie” than it would “Moxie”. I’ll have to run it past Joe and see what he thinks, though I already know he wants to name her Angela (after Angela Lansbury). But I already put the kibosh on that name since it’s much too similar to Annabelle, and Annabelle would never stand for having her name usurped by this kitten.
September 24, 2007
09:30 PM
Baby’s official name is now Roxie … unless, of course, she turns out to be a he. 😉
Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie Roxie
Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
September 25, 2007
08:17 PM
Little Roxie is having a bad night. Joe brought home the dewormer that the vet dropped off, and when I tried to give her the half dose as directed (Paul had put 2 ml of Strongid into a syringe), the syringe misbehaved, got stuck and ended up dispensing 1.8 of the 2 ml instead of the 1 ml I was supposed to give her. In a panic, I called a half dozen different vets, leaving messages on everyone’s machines, desperately trying to find out if I’d poisoned her with an overdose.
To my great relief, Strongid is reportedly safe at up to 8 times the recommended dosage, so I haven’t poisoned her. However, it has given her projectile diarrhea. And I do mean PROJECTILE, as in all over the bed, the headboard, the walls, the picture hanging on the wall, etc. And we don’t even want to talk about just how stinky this little girl is right now with her long hair and very, very messy butt.
Aren’t kittens supposed to be fun?
September 26, 2007
05:58 AM
Phew! Things are MUCH better this morning. The vets told me to withhold food last night (I suppose so as not to refuel the cannon that had become her digestive tract), and this morning there was a single, pretty well formed bowel movement in Roxie’s litterbox. She was mighty happy to have her EVO returned to her this morning, though.
Also at the vet’s suggestion, I will no longer be giving her A/D … at least not until and unless her digestive tract can handle it. It, too, was causing diarrhea, which one of the vets said was offsetting any benefit it may have been providing in terms of caloric increase. So we’ll just stick with Evo for her for now, since her system seems to be able to digest it properly.
Today I’ll put on my hazard gear and see if I can treat her ears for mites without getting my arms and hands shredded.
Wish me luck!
September 26, 2007
09:33 AM
I just cleaned Roxie’s ears with OtiClens and cotton balls, and we both came out of the experience unscathed (although Roxie’s little feline ego probably doesn’t think so). Her ears weren’t too dirty, so she might not even have mites. I’ll still put the ivermectin drops in them, though, just to be on the safe side with all of the other animals in this house. I’ll give her ears a few hours to dry out a bit from the cleaning before I put the drops in, though.
Wormless and miteless. We’re making progress!
September 26, 2007
10:49 AM
Roxie’s kitten antics are fairly minimal for now. First of all, I don’t have a lot of time to spend with her in the bedroom, though I do go in and visit her a few hours a day. Secondly, she tires very quickly. That’ll undoubtedly change as she picks up weight. In fact, I’m already seeing a little progress in terms of her vigor and stamina when she plays. I don’t think it’ll be too long before she’s bouncing off the walls. I’m enjoying the relative peace at the moment. I know it won’t last. 😉
September 28, 2007
09:21 AM
Our little girl is improving quickly now! I was just in the bedroom playing with her, and while petting her on my lap, I noticed that I could no longer easily count every vertebra down her spine. As I continued to stroke her, I was actually feeling a bit of flesh on either side of her spine. I picked her up and was amazed to detect a little heft in her body. She no longer feels as light as the feather she likes to chase around the floor. I weighed her again, and she’s up to 4.55 lbs! That’s an increase of just over 1/4 lb since I wormed her 3 days ago! She’s almost starting to LOOK like a normal kitten!
Roxie is also getting more and more playful. I can get her running in tight little reining horse spins after the feather now. She’s just sooooo cute! She’s almost starting to ACT like a normal kitten!
Now if her stool would just normalize, I’d be a happy camper. She’s still pretty loose, but occasionally she does manage a firm stool. Unfortunately, she is still having messes on the bed from time to time, but no more major explosions like the one right after her deworming.
I wish you all could be here to experience her improvements in person. She’s just looking and feeling so much better!
I’ve got to go try to take a current pic of her to attach to this post. OK, here’s a body shot from this morning. You can’t see her little gangster face, but you can see how her coat (or at least the parts I haven’t pulled out with the mats) is looking less raggedy.
September 29, 2007
04:01 PM
I’m going to talk to Paul about both giardia and coccidia. Both can cause diarrhea, and both can be difficult to diagnose, so we may just end up treating her for both.
I think Roxie’s coat will turn out to be really soft with a thick undercoat, but time till tell.
September 30, 2007
08:40 AM
Miss Roxie with Moxie is getting tired of having diarrhea and getting tired of being secluded in the bedroom. Her poor little behind is obviously sore now from all the loose stool. She’s constantly cleaning herself back there. I’ve got to do something, but Paul never returned my call yesterday to prescribe a course of action. I’m having Joe bring home some plain yogurt and canned pumpkin tonight, and I’ll give Roxie a bit of both to see if that helps firm her up. If this diarrhea hasn’t resolved within the next couple of weeks before I take her in for her spay, I’ll request meds to treat her for giardia and/or coccidia.
I would start bringing her into the livingroom for visits if I had a harness small enough to fit her. I need to call Joe at church and see if he has time to stop by the pet store to pick up a small harness for her before he goes to work.
On the bright side, Roxie has now picked up just shy of a pound since her arrival, in spite of the diarrhea.
One step at a time for Roxie. She’s definitely on the right track … with occasional detours along the way.
October 2, 2007
08:10 AM
Little Miss Roxie has been having adventures over the last couple of days. Day before yesterday, I decided to let her out of the bedroom to see how she’d handle the family at large. To my great surprise, she came right out and walked around like she owned the place, standing her ground with nary a hiss or growl anytime one of the other animals walked up to check her out. She ignored everybody, even Wookie who attached himself to her behind for a while as he followed her on her travels. She didn’t even budge when the very pushy Tasha tried her best to get her to play and run. Tasha play bowed and barked and circled and finally gave up and threw herself onto her back in sacrifice to the Roxie goddess.
Meanwhile, all of the male cats in the household are inexplicably leery of Roxie. They all give her a wide berth when they encounter her, in spite of the fact that she’s done absolutely nothing to solicit such responses. They’re growling at her and scurrying away from her. It’s just so ridiculous and unexpected. Maybe they don’t know what to make of her because she’s so tiny. They’ve never had to deal with a kitten before. Or maybe it’s her fearless moxie that has them intimidated. It was mighty amusing watching 26 lb Noddy shy away from 4.65 lb Roxie. My little pebble can move mountains!
The females don’t seem as inclined to overreact to Roxie’s presence. They check her out, but they won’t be intimidated by the little twerp. Girl power!!!
Yesterday I took Roxie to my backup vet, another Paul, for a checkup and to hopefully find a solution to her diarrhea. In yet another surprising turn of events, Paul confirmed that she is, in fact, she, but that she is AT LEAST 6 months old and possibly as old as a year!!! She has all of her adult teeth, and a couple of her teeth already have some staining. WHAT????? He went on to speculate that she might not get much bigger than she is now except for filling out. Good grief! Can you imagine a year-old, 3.75 lb cat (her weight when Joe found her)? I’m sticking with the idea that she’s closer to 6 mos, though, and will put on some more frame growth before she’s done.
In terms of her diarrhea, Paul thinks that the EVO, because of its high-fat content, has caused the bacteria in her gut to multiply, overwhelming her system and causing the loose stools. So, I’ve switched her to a food with a lower fat content and higher fiber to try to give her system a chance to catch up. She hates it. She also hates the med she started last night to treat her for potential giardia infection. But we need to get this diarrhea under control before she can be vaccinated and spayed. Her poor little behind is so raw and sore from all the licking she’s been doing, but I really don’t want to put anything on it that she may lick off. Paul said just to keep her clean back there.
Roxie’s not feeling terribly affectionate this morning. Between the gacky food and the med, she’s pretty crabby. As long as she can’t access any firearms, we should all survive this.
October 2, 2007
04:02 PM
Roxie is chilling back in the bedroom now with her gawky food and TV. She’s spent just about all day snoozing on the ledge of the bay window in the living room, but she did get the stupid for a few minutes while I was in the kitchen. She was racing back and forth through the kitchen, leaping over the baby gate that keeps the dogs out of the litterbox in the utility room, skidding across the linoleum. It was fun watching her act like a real kitten.
Pippin isn’t feeling well today and refused his breakfast (which he NEVER does). While I was sitting on the floor taking his temp, Roxie came over the flopped over on her back right next to his big head. Goofy girl. At least she had sense enough to back off when Tasha threatened to rip her guts out after Roxie got too close to Tasha’s breakfast. A little moxie is good; a lot of moxie can be hazardous to a kitten’s health!
October 4, 2007
05:41 PM
I guess you’d rather have pics right away than stories, so I’ll start out with a couple of new pics then post again later with a Roxie update.
This is flat Roxie, snoozing on the dining room floor.
October 4, 2007
05:44 PM
And here is upside down Roxie, taking a different view of the world.
I have no idea why her eyes photograph so ORANGE. They really are on the yellow side of amber.
October 5, 2007
08:35 AM
I’ve been reluctant to post about Roxie because, frankly, she has me concerned. I can see good progress with her in some ways, but in others she actually seems to be worsening.
On the bright side, she is gaining weight quickly. I just weighed her, and she’s up to 5.2 lbs. Although she is clearly putting on necessary flesh all over her body (her vertebra are no longer readily palpable, and her hip bones no longer protrude), the majority of her bulk is in her distended belly. This has me worried for a couple of reasons. First, her digestive tract is still not producing normal stools, so clearly things still aren’t working as they should in there. Second, I now know that she is old enough to be pregnant. I asked Paul the other day if there was any realistic possibility she could be pregnant given her state of starvation when we found her, and instead of reassuring me of the unlikelihood, he told me that he’s seen cats in amazingly poor condition become and hold pregnancies. So now I’m worried that she might not only be pregnant but that the meds she’s receiving may adversely affect the kittens even if they ever did have a chance of being born normal to begin with. And if she is pregnant, how would a tiny thing like Roxie ever be able to deliver kittens safely? I asked Paul how far along she’d have to be before the kittens would be palpable. He said around a month, but that it would be difficult to tell with Roxie because her belly is holding so much fluid. Ugh.
I’m feeding her a Nutro dry food that is lower in protein and fat than EVO so as not to feed the bad bacteria in her gut any more than necessary, but if she’s pregnant, she should be getting the higher protein food. Still, she is putting on weight, so her body obviously isn’t starving anymore. I am also tossing the dry food with some Metamucil to add fiber and hopefully bulk up her stool, Prozyme to assist in food digestion, and L-lysine to boost her immune system and hopefully help her fight off what appears to be a herpes infection in her eyes. I also gave her a small bit of yogurt this morning to reintroduce good bacteria into her gut, but that was risky because she may very well be lactose-intolerant, in which case the yogurt will make her diarrhea worse.
Roxie got her second dose of Strongid this morning, so I’m waiting to see if she has another rear-end explosion like she did after the first dose. Nothing so far (knocking furiously on wood). I’ll keep her in the bedroom until noon today, just in case, so that her explosion will be at least somewhat contained, should it occur. She’s also getting amoxicillin and metronidazole daily for a possible giardia infection.
What concerns me most is Roxie’s general attitude. She still sleeps the vast majority of the time, is not attention-seeking, and seems depressed at times. She does have playful moments from time to time, but not nearly enough for a kitten her age. I just want to see her acting like a typically rowdy, boisterous kitten.
Hopefully, it’s just the ongoing loose stools that are sapping her energy, and those do seem to be improving a bit. There were a couple of semi-formed BMs in her box this morning that I was very glad to see. Unfortunately, Roxie has now turned the house into a minefield. She usually no longer even attempts to go to her box when she needs to poo. Yesterday I “found” two piles of diarrhea on the floor right in front of my vanity in the bathroom, no more than 2′ from her litterbox. I’ll leave it to your imagination to figure out how I found them. There were also piles on the floor next to the bed, on sheets in the laundry room, and on the ledge surrounding the tub in the bathroom. I suspect there are others I haven’t found yet.
Because of the possibility of pregnancy and her ongoing digestive disturbances, Roxie won’t be spayed for at least a month or until these other issues are resolved. I’m hoping she goes into heat so that I can at least put the pregnancy question to rest.
Addendum: I just spent a few minutes in the bedroom with Roxie where she madly chased a feather around the floor, making me feel better about her state of being. That belly, though, is looking more and more pregnant to me. Please tell me I’m imagining things! For those of you who have had pregnant cats, would you tell me, please, if lethargy and/or digestive upsets are part and parcel of the pregnancy experience in cats?
October 5, 2007
10:14 AM
Another profile shot of the flat-faced gun moll, ROXIE.
October 5, 2007
02:26 PM
I’m not even going to entertain the possibility of FIP at this point. For one thing, Paul would have mentioned it if he’d thought it was an applicable or even possible diagnosis. For another, Roxie is gaining weight all over her body, not just her belly. Belly distension is common in recovering, starved animals 4555555555555555555555551yhhhhhhh8u1 666sdddd (that was Roxie’s contribution to this conversation). I’m not worried about FIP because Roxie has no failure to thrive, is having no trouble putting on weight, eats and drinks well, and is running no fever. I will, of course, tuck FIP away in the back of my mind to reconsider, should additional symptoms arise in our little girl. I’ll also do some research online to reacquaint myself with its symptoms and indications so I don’t miss 00ooooooooo anything.
I do believe that a natural diet is probably healthiest for our 4-legged companions under most circumstances. I am not well-versed in raw diets for cats, but from the small amount of reading I’ve done relative to raw diets for dogs, I understand that such a diet must be introduced gradually in order to give the animal’s system time to adjust to the change. That’s simply not a luxury I have with Roxie right now. My priority with her at the moment is to keep things as status quo with her digestive tract as possible so that it can recover from the shock of receiving food again. I have been warned that major dietary changes can potentially damage the liver and kidneys under these circumstances, and I’m not willing to put Roxie at any increased risk that way. I will improve her diet and gradually switch her primarily to premium quality, canned, all-meat food AFTER I have her digestive tract healthy and functioning properly again. But for now, she will stay on a reasonably bland, dry diet and the meds and supplements which I feel are applicable and beneficial given her current condition. I know that’s not how you’d like me to handle things with her, but I have to do what I believe to be best based on my own experience, available information, and gut instinct.
October 5, 2007
02:47 PM
Roxie does, indeed, have very fine baby hair. So soft and silky. Unfortunately, it also mats like the dickens! Yes, I’ll be VERY glad once Roxie’s digestive tract is working properly again. We’ll get there … eventually.
I sent Joe out in search of canned pumpkin last week, but all he could find at the local groceries was pumpkin pie filling. I just KNOW there has to be canned pumpkin at one of those groceries, but apparently none of the stockers were able to locate it for him. I’ll have to go into town myself one of these days and see if I can dig it up.
My understanding is that the only definitive diagnosis of FIP occurs in necropsy. FIP diagnoses made on living animals are based solely on symptoms, and those can be misleading. So, no, I have not had her checked for FIP. I don’t even know what that would entail or what degree of diagnostic accuracy it might provide. Obviously I need to do some research on current FIP information.
Remember that Roxie had NONE of this belly distension when Joe first found her, and her stools were perfectly normal and firm. It was only AFTER I started (over)feeding her that her belly blew up and the diarrhea began. I’m afraid all of this is my fault because I fed her too much too quickly and overwhelmed her little system. I learned the lesson, but our little girl is paying the price.
Paul (vet) cautioned against giving her yogurt because of the potential lactose intolerance possibility. I don’t know. I only gave her a tsp., and I won’t give her anymore for a few days (assuming her diarrhea doesn’t get any worse as a result of the yogurt she got this morning).
Dealing with Roxie right now is a bit like dealing with a CRF cat. I’m walking a tightrope, trying to give her what she needs without unintentionally giving her something that’ll make things worse.
Right now she’s sleeping on the desk next to me. That’s the first time she’s done that. Somer is also sleeping on the desk, Sweet Sweet is in the chair next to me, and Lamie is behind me on my chair, oh so generously leaving me about 6″ on which to perch my ample behind on the lip of the chair.
There is no shortage of kitties in this house!
October 7, 2007
06:51 AM
It never occurred to me that acidophilus would be available at a health food store! I’ll have Joe pick some up today or tomorrow. That should help get Roxie’s digestive tract back on track.
Roxie is being particularly moody, and I believe her moods are directly related to her tummy upsets. She had a time or two yesterday when she was REALLY crabby and did NOT want to be handled. Then she had periods when she was extremely playful and silly. She does better when I can distract her with play and help her forget about her sore little behind for a while. I tried cleaning under her tail with a warm, wet paper towel yesterday, but she really nailed me. I believe I’ll leave the cleaning up to her from now on.
Roxie’s stool is starting to firm up a little bit, but it has a ways to go before it’ll look normal again.
As I said, though, Roxie is starting to feel more playful. I’ve even seen her trying to stalk a couple of the boys, which they do NOT appreciate! How they can be intimidated by this little fluffball, I’ll never know. Perhaps it’s her fearlessness that has them worried. She’s a tough little gangster girl! But everybody does seem to be adjusting to her presence. The boys no longer hiss when they walk by her, and they don’t make such an obvious point of avoiding her. Weasel even walked up and touched noses with her for a moment before backing away and slinking off.
Gotta go let the little girl out of the bedroom so that she can join the rest of the family.
October 7, 2007
09:50 PM
Our little gangster had a lot of fun today. Not only did she enjoy a fishing expedition, but she also decided she wanted to join the Shadowood Pride. Now that the other cats have realized that Roxie presents no actual threat and is holding their ground in her presence, she is integrating herself into their society. For the first time today, she joined them in their group movements around the house. When they chased me into the kitchen in hopes of convincing me that dinner should be served 5 hrs early, Roxie was right there with them. When they then abandoned their futile attempt and followed me into the office, Roxie was again in their midst. When I moved into the living room for some TV and playtime, Roxie and three of the boys joined me. I do believe our little gangster is successfully recruiting a new mob with whom to hang out. Lordy, you don’t suppose I’ll get arrested for harboring a minor who is contributing to the delinquency of a bunch of adults, do you?
On a less sinister note (or perhaps a MORE sinister note), Roxie truly does enjoy her fishing expeditions. Here is a pictorial essay on today’s escapades …
Ah, what are those I spy below?
October 7, 2007
09:56 PM
I’d better take a closer look …
October 7, 2007
09:58 PM
Ah, FISH, but just how many are in there?
October 7, 2007
10:01 PM
Any closer and I’m going to need a snorkel!
October 7, 2007
10:02 PM
Safer to just lie here and watch kitty TV than risk drowning in the bowl.
October 7, 2007
10:05 PM
Obviously, Auntie Somer has eaten waaaaaay too many fish to be interested in the bowl anymore.
October 8, 2007
12:37 PM
Roxie is feeling LOTS better! Today she’s acting all kitten, running around, playing, trying to scare Footsie out of HER bedroom. Yesterday she even tried to play with Noddy’s tail which probably weighs as much as she does. LOL! Nods was NOT amused and got up and walked away. It’s still hysterical watching his 26 lb bulk back away from her 5.2 lb bitty self.
Each time Roxie sees me today, she flops over onto her back and invites me to touch her belly – an act which is promptly rewarded with bite/scratch/kick/bounce away. She’s being so silly today that it just warms my heart to watch her.
Still not producing normal poop yet, but getting closer.
October 8, 2007
12:52 PM
I haven’t gotten my hands on acidophilus yet. Stores were closed yesterday, and Joe won’t have time to pick it up today. He’ll get it tomorrow. Roxie’s already receiving psyllium (Metamucil), which I believe is responsible for giving her stool its current grainy texture. It does seem to be helping firm it up a little. I’m hopeful that the acidophilus will improve things even more.
October 9, 2007
07:18 AM
Roxie is up to 5.7 lbs this morning!!! That’s nearly TWO POUNDS since she showed up on 9/17. At this rate, she’s going to turn into El Tubbo Gangster if I’m not careful. LOL!
And this morning there was a poop in her box that actually had a SHAPE! Not quite normal color or consistency, but definitely a big improvement over what’s been coming out of this little girl. Oops, wrote a bit too soon. She just deposited a soft pile on the bathroom rug, and it’s not nearly so nicely shaped as the one in her box. Oh well, baby steps.
This morning she also came RUNNING into the bathroom to be let out into the rest of the house. Now she’s doing more exploring in my office, trying to get into places where even she can’t easily fit. She has successfully located most of the primo kitty hangouts, though, like the top of the file cabinets and ledge of the bay window.
Yep, I don’t think I have to worry about Roxie anymore … except for the possibility of pregnancy. We’ll just take that one as it comes, or doesn’t. I can’t remember ever wishing that a cat would come into heat before. 😉
October 11, 2007
08:47 AM
Yikes, Roxie was up to 5.9 lbs last night. She’s picking up weight so quickly that I’m afraid she’s going to pop out a dozen kittens at some point. ACK!!! I keep trying to tell myself that she’s just a recovering starvation victim and a growing kitten, but the ever-increasing size of her belly is making me crazy. If she is pregnant, and if she became pregnant immediately before Joe found her, it’ll be another week before the kittens will presumably be palpable by a vet. I may run her back to the vet next week to see if he can feel any babies. Of course, if she’s pregnant and became that way a month or more before Joe found her, she could go into labor any time. At least there’s no swelling around her teeth.
Please send “not pregnant” vibes our way. Babies would so complicate things here at Shadwood.
October 12, 2007
02:09 PM
Oh, you guys don’t have any idea how much I DON’T need a litter of kittens right now. Roxie has been the least of my feline worries of late. I just didn’t want to burden the forum with other concerns when there was a cute, needy kitten on which to focus your attention.
October 14, 2007
09:47 AM
Oh, Lordy! Where is my sickly, starving little kitten???? She’s being replaced by a MONSTER!!!!
This morning Roxie is taking turns chasing the boys around the house. She seems to have chosen Feather as her primary target, which is more than a little surprising since Feather is the biggest bully in the house. He LOVES to intimidate, chase, and attack Mew and Sweet Sweet any time he thinks he can get away with it, but now he’s running from Roxie! She’s already chased him into both bedrooms. She also chased poor Sweet Sweet under the credenza in the dining room (as if he wasn’t already enough of a victim). She just jumped at Somer and then immediately went after Feather again.
The gangster is outta control!!!
October 14, 2007
11:24 AM
6.3 lbs today of rowdy fire, this Roxie girl!
October 14, 2007
01:56 PM
I still don’t know if Roxie is pregnant, and I may not know for sure until she either comes into heat or delivers a litter. I’m hoping to set up a time at the end of this coming week or the week after for my vet to examine her and see if he can palpate any kittens.
October 15, 2007
03:30 PM
Today’s weigh-in. Roxie 6.25 lbs
October 15, 2007
09:29 PM
Roxie’s belly is definitely fluffed now. Her whole body has put on size and mass (from 3.75 lbs to 6.25 lbs in less than a month!), but her belly is still proportionately larger than the rest of her. Her nipples are not enlarged, but there’s no way she’ll let me part the hair to actually check out their color. In fact, when I touch her belly, that’s her signal to rip as much flesh off of my hand as possible. Fortunately, with her flat little face, she can’t take much of a bite out of me. 😉
Roxie’s coat is actually in very good shape now – just a few small mats on her hind legs that I haven’t been quick enough to pull out yet. Her coat only looks disheveled because her hair is so extremely fine that it won’t lay flat. I think a lot of her coat is still baby fuzz. Also, I pulled out so much of it when I demitted her that now it’s about 100 different lengths. It should look much more “adult” and orderly in another 6 mos or so.
Our little gangster’s energy level has also shot through the roof over the last week. She now spends her days chasing and jumping at the other cats, trying desperately to find SOMEONE, ANYONE who will play with her. You’d think that in a houseful of 14 felines, a girl would be able to find a playmate! But she hasn’t found any takers yet. I think, though, that Feather will come around eventually and get up the nerve to play with her. It’s even possible that Somer may give her a shot. Time will tell, but Roxie’s patience is already growing very thin with the lack of play among the Shadowood Pride.
This girl intends to SHAKE THINGS UP!
October 16, 2007
05:39 AM
Roxie will recruit a playmate sooner or later right here at home, thank you very much!
October 16, 2007
07:37 AM
Hello, my name is Laurie, and I live with a drug addict. Yes, it’s true, and I’m ashamed to confess that I am his drug supplier. He snorts it, ingests it, and even apparently absorbs it through his skin. At first, his addiction was manageable – maybe once a year on Christmas he would imbibe. Over the years, though, he found that he needed his fix more often. Now he demands his drug several times a day. He has grown fat and lazy, though sublimely content most of the time.
But now my greatest fear has been realized. His addiction has spread to our youngest child. He is now sharing his drug with my baby! What have I done? Woe is me!
Here they are, David and Goliath … er, Roxie and Noddy … getting high on their favorite herb.
October 16, 2007
07:39 AM
Face to face over a pile of nip with the zoned-out Lion King …
October 16, 2007
06:06 PM
Surely I must suffer 1000 lashes for my involvement in the corruption of Noddy and Roxie. Please, though, no Dr. Phil. I still haven’t forgiven him for telling a family to relinquish their pets along with other unnecessary household possessions during his first season. You put me in a room with Dr. Phil, and there’s no telling which of us may survive the experience!
October 17, 2007
05:58 AM
Nods at 25.65 lbs and Roxie at 6.25 lbs represent my largest and smallest.
Still, it’s mighty amusing watching my Lion King back away from the gangster when she gets silly.
October 19, 2007
10:08 PM
Roxie is all but BURSTING with Moxie these days! She is feeling sooooo good and getting sooooo rowdy that she’s an absolute joy to behold. At weigh-in last night she was up to 6.6 lbs. She actually feels like a well-rounded cat these days, although still a mini-cat by my Pride’s standards.
Roxie is such a hoot! I laughed and laughed last week when she tried to run into the kitchen with all of the other cats for breakfast after her first night of freedom out of the bedroom. First, you need to understand how things have changed here over the last several months. In July, I decided I was tired of seeing all of these fat cats in the house, so I stopped free-feeding and put them all on a feeding schedule, instead. One of the more unpleasant side effects of that change is that now all 14 cats start getting restless at about 5:00 a.m. every morning. I am now waking up to “I’M HUNGRY” skirmishes which, as soon as the cats realize I am waking up, turn into all-out warfare until I deliver their breakfast. Cats chase me and each other, hissing, growling, and smacking each other on their way to the kitchen (or the bathroom … whichever I head to first). The nastiness doesn’t subside until their faces are buried in their breakfast bowls.
Anyhow, to get back to Roxie, her first morning at large in the house with the other cats was a whole new experience for her, and she really didn’t know what was happening. One minute she’s snoozing soundly along with everyone else, and the next minute the cats are running around like homicidal maniacs smacking each other upside the head! They all charged into the kitchen after me, demanding breakfast. I looked to see if little Roxie was still alive and kicking in the fray, and there she was at the back of the pack, racing into the kitchen behind all the others. As I watched her cross the kitchen threshold at top speed, one of the other cats unceremoniously smacked her on the head, and like a tiny boomerang, she spun around and ran back the way she came! It was so funny; she never missed a beat! Images of the Keystone Cops flashed through my brain.
Roxie has no fear of the other cats and only occasionally is cautious enough to stay out of the way of the particularly crabby ones. For the most part, she just ignores them unless she thinks she might be able to convince one of them to play. She seems to have figured out that Feather is her best chance of recruiting as a playmate. He bopped her on the head twice today, so he’s clearly feeling her out as a play partner. She’s taking a different tact in checking out his tolerance level. She runs at him then veers away at the last instant and runs past him instead. She’s making herself irresistible, and I know he’s going to give in and play with her sooner or later.
Roxie has an incredibly endearing trait that I haven’t told you guys about yet. Because of her smooshy nose, she tends to snort like a tiny little pig whenever she opens her mouth really wide. So during play, she is constantly making these piggy snorts that just crack me up. Her snorty, piggy gangster face with the jutty-outy chin is just too much for me to take! She’d be so insulted if she had any idea how incredibly funny she is! LOL!!! I am just so glad she’s here. This house desperately needs her kind of silly.
October 20, 2007
07:55 AM
Roxie’s poop is looking good these days for the most part. She’s still not using the litterboxes reliably, but the canine clean-up crew is taking care of her mistakes unless I find them first. Enough said on that matter.
I haven’t had her palpated yet because Paul is being his typically inaccessible self. I’m not in any big hurry to find out if she’s pregnant, anyway. By Thanksgiving, Roxie will either have kittens or be spayed.
October 26, 2007
09:06 AM
Roxie’s doing great! Her weight seems to have leveled off (finally) at about 6.5 lbs, and until I gave her a bit too much-canned food last night, her digestive system had been transitioning nicely to the same premium food the other cats are getting. It’s a bit loose again today, though, so I’ll have to back off the canned food a bit and give her system time to regulate again.3222222222222222222222222222222222222 (guess who just walked across my keyboard!)
This girl is really a little pistol. She feels sooooo good these days. She runs and plays and bounces and chases. The chases are particularly amusing, watching her race after Feather and Phantom. Why those boys run from her is a mystery to me, since they’re two of the biggest bullies in the house. With Roxie, it’s all in play, though. Feather will now sometimes even try to tease her into chasing him, but occasionally he’ll stand his ground and pop her on the head when she runs up to him. Roxie definitely has Feather pegged as her favorite play partner.
Roxie has also become rather painfully playful with me. She now loves to bait me into tickling her belly, then sticks all of her little needles into me and sees how much of my flesh she can shred before I rescue my poor bloodied hand. It was pretty funny at the mall a couple of weeks ago when a young saleswoman grabbed my hand in an attempt to sell me some sort of nail products as I walked by. As soon as she looked down at my hand and saw the bloody scratches all over it, she gasped, “What are those?!?!?”. I replied, “Cat scratches”, removed my hand from her loosened grip, and walked on, laughing. Poor girl probably thought I was some sort of demented slasher victim.
The only time Roxie will make a point of avoiding the other cats is during the breakfast fray. She has learned that she’s safest waiting under the dining room table for me to pick her up and carry her into the bathroom for breakfast away from the other wildings. Other than that, Roxie continues to be entirely fearless.
When she’s awake, she typically follows me around the house. I’m still waiting for her to start snuggling up to the other cats when she sleeps. But my cats don’t actually do much “piling” the way Meezer’s cats do. The ones who are related by blood sometimes sleep together, but the others prefer their “personal space”. I’m guessing, though, that Roxie will eventually try to recruit a sleep buddy. We’ll see.
I still don’t know whether she’s pregnant or not. There are times when I am certain she is, and times when I’m pretty sure she’s not. The fact that her weight has leveled off implies no pregnancy, but if she isn’t pregnant, she really should have come into heat by now. Her teats are still normal size and color, so that’s another point for no pregnancy. I just don’t know, and I probably won’t know for certain until the end of Nov. I have been reading up on feline pregnancy, queening, and kitten care … just in case. For now, though, I’m thoroughly enjoying the little gangster’s kittenhood and am hoping that there will be no intrusion of motherhood on it.
Here’s our girl napping on the couch with Pretty and Somer, under the watchful eye of Mew.
October 26, 2007
09:17 AM
Such a face!
October 26, 2007
12:32 PM
I think Roxie was accepted so easily because she was so sickly and quiet for the first few weeks. She did little more than sleep and eat, which gave all of the other cats time to adjust to her as a benign presence. Little did they know that the gangster was simply biding her time, gaining size, stamina, and silliness. Even so, Roxie hasn’t made an aggressive move toward any of the cats, so they all pretty much ignore her even when she gets “the stupids” and runs around here like a little madwoman. There is an occasional hiss or growl when she tries to chase one of her more intolerant elders, but those moments of unpleasantness quickly pass. Even the biggest boys who hid from her initially now don’t pay her much mind. Roxie was a very easy integration.
December 27, 2007
07:36 AM
I’m feeling miserable today, but not as miserable as my sweet baby gangster. Roxie was spayed yesterday, and today she’s looking at me with such betrayal that it’s breaking my heart. She doesn’t understand why I took her away from home and let somebody hurt her. She’s walking around with her tail dragging. She looks so small and frail and damaged right now. I can’t stand to see her like this, even though I know it’s both temporary and necessary.
I HATE this part of kitty motherhood.
December 27, 2007
11:02 AM
Now Roxie is purring every time I touch her, which is making me feel even worse since I know I don’t deserve it. She did seem relieved to get food and water today since she got none yesterday. I’m glad that I was at least able to give her that much to make her feel a little better. I can’t even pick her up and comfort her for fear of hurting her belly. She’s been sleeping on the bedroom floor all morning with just a couple of brief forays into other rooms. She’s seeking comfort from Wookie, which is odd since he’s the one who loves to chew kitty heads. But sometimes he also licks Roxie all over her face, and she seems to love that.
I did see her tail come up to half-mast a while ago, so perhaps she’s starting to feel a little better already.
I’ll be so relieved once she’s recovered and acting like her rowdy little self again.
December 28, 2007
07:07 AM
Roxie had me worried last night. She ate well yesterday morning, but she barely touched her dinner last night. Worrisome for a little chow hound like Roxie. But she ate well again this morning and then went and bopped Feather on the head, so she seems to be feeling a bit better. I’m keeping a close eye on the gangster.
December 29, 2007
09:12 AM
Roxie’s still acting pretty poopy, eating well in the morning but not eating much at night, and sleeping most of the time. I think she’s still pretty ouchy. I expected her to be acting more normal by now, but that’s not the case. I’m keeping a close eye on our girl.
As long as she doesn’t develop any sort of infection, it’s probably a good thing that she’s taking it easy during the recovery period.
December 29, 2007
09:25 AM
There’s another explanation for Roxie’s continuing malaise. She received her vaccinations at the same time as her spay, and I know that vaccines alone can leave them feeling pretty puny for a week. I’ll bet that’s why she’s not springing back as quickly as I anticipated.
DUH! I should have brought the vaccines home with me and given them to her in a week or two after she recovered from her spay. Sometimes I just don’t think straight when I see one of my babies under the knife.
December 29, 2007
09:59 AM
Paul used both glue and dissolvable sutures on Roxie so that I wouldn’t have to fight with her to remove the sutures later. I have had problems with glue causing irritation and/or infection in my animals, but I allowed Paul to use it on Roxie because I’m still so spooked by what happened to Meezer’s dear Olivia. I’d rather deal with infection than a surgical wound that pops open when the closest vet is more than 30 minutes away.
I do have some amoxi here, so I may just start giving it to Roxie to stave off any infection. I’ll give Paul a call and see what he thinks.