Jonathon Had Three Molars Removed

Jonathon had dental surgery yesterday and had 3 of his 4 molars (the big teeth used for chewing) removed.  The vet said he will still be able to eat dry food.  His teeth were removed due to recurring infection in these teeth causing him pain.

Jonathon had periodontal disease...hopefully, removing these teeth will help his mouth become healthier.

As periodontal disease progresses, you may observe the following signs:

• Purulent exudate (pus) around the tooth
• Persistent bad breath
• Gums that bleed easily
• Sensitivity around the mouth
• Pawing at the mouth
• Gums that are inflamed (red), hyperplastic, or receding
• Loose or missing teeth
• Loss of appetite
• Stomach or intestinal upsets
• Drooling
• Difficulty chewing or eating
• Irritability or depression

Cats infected with feline leukemia virus, FIV or calicivirus have a much higher incidence of periodontal disease.


For more information, visit peteducation.com.

Karma is in her new home!

Karma went to her her new home on Wednesday. I feel very happy about the family who adopted her. I think they will take care of her just like I did. I think she has a very good home! Yay!  Poor Artie misses her though.  We just play with him more since they used to run around and chase each other.  We miss her too but we couldn't keep her.  If we keep every kitty we loved, we would have an apartment full!

Karma Was Adopted and I Freaked Out!

A family came in to adopt a kitty named Duchess.  I brought them to her room and they petted her but for some reason, they didn't seem too impressed with her. Somehow, they did not know she had FIV, even though it says that in her description and there is a special symbol by her name on Petfinder. *shrug*  I talked to them like they knew she had FIV and they said they had not even heard of it before.

As they were leaving because they were no longer interested in adopting Duchess, they saw some pictures of Karma on the table.  They asked about her and I showed them to her her cage which was in the same room.

They ended up wanting to adopt her!  I feel suspicious about someone who comes in for a specific kitty but wants to adopt another one once they get to the shelter.  It tells me that they are not sure of what they want and that worries me.  For example, Duchess is an overweight, older kitty (I think she is around 5), who has FIV.  They ended up saying they wanted a 9 month old kitten who has a history of serious injuries.  There is quite a difference there.  Also, they look nothing like each other.

I gave them a pre-adoption form and saw some things that worried me.  Their previous kitty was front paw declawed and she marked that one of the problems she was *not* willing to work with was litter box problems.  Well, I am very opposed to declawing especially with Karma who already had 2 surgeries.  She was shaking when I brought her to the vet for her check up. I think she thought she was there for another surgery.

Karma sometimes misses the litter box.  I talked to the vet about it and she believes that Karma may have some numbness due to her injuries and surgeries which makes her "aim" off.  The numbness may never go away.  She sometimes defecates right outside the litter box even though she is standing in the box.  Once or twice, she also has urinated outside the box.

The vet said this may never go away so if this woman is is not willing to work with litter box problems, Karma is probably not right for her.

I felt that the children with her were pressuring her to adopt Karma because she is so cute and friendly.

The people ended up leaving, saying they wanted to think about it.  I really did not think they would come back.  I was talking to the other adoption counselors about them, trying to get their perspective about the family. They are removed from the situation so they don't have the emotional bond with Karma that I have that may cloud my judgement.  Also, one of the counselors told me that she had discussed declawing Karma and they both felt that Karma should not be declawed because she had already been through enough trauma.  So, that was good.  I never want my foster kitties to be declawed but if they are under 1 year, the shelter will allow it.  But not with Karma. About 10 minutes before adoptions were over, the family walked in with an empty carrier and smiles on their faces.

I was completely caught off guard.

I started to sweat and shake slightly.  I had already put them out of my mind because generally, people who leave, do not come back for the cat they were thinking about adopting.  So, the family came in and sat down and said they decided that they wanted to adopt her.

I told the mother that I felt Karma was really freaked out because it was her first adoptions and that the kitties around her in the other cages were hissing and growling at each other.  Also, she had received a shot and a microchip just the night before at the shelter and (I think) was scared that she was going to get another one.  We talked about her litter box issues again and I feel that she will be okay with it.  I said that it maybe happens once a week.  We also told her that the "head honcho" of the cat house said that Karma cannot be declawed.

I must have look visibly shaken because the mother offered to wait until later in the week to pick her up. After they left, I was still shaking and I felt embarrassed at how I acted.  Looking back, I feel that I might have overreacted a bit.  I didn't feel that at the time, though.

I told my boyfriend later that night that I guess I wasn't as good at keeping myself a little disconnected from my fosters.  I love them and treat them the same as my own cats but I always believe that I do not get attached to them so it enables me to give them up without causing myself pain.

I guess with Karma anyway, I didn't do that.

When she came to me, she still had a broken leg, two broken hips and a fractured pelvis.  She did not have her first surgery for 4 days.  She was dehydrated, hungry and very thin.  So, we took the weekend to get her rehydrated and give her some food so she would have energy to go through the surgery.  She had one surgery in January to fix her broken leg and one hip.  She had her second surgery in February to fix her other hip and spay her.

We went through a lot with her and I guess I was more concerned about her than I let myself believe.

So, I am preparing myself for her new parents to pick her up Wednesday at 4.

Karma is available for adoption!

I took Karma to the vet yesterday and the vet cleared her for adoption!  Her first adoptions will be this Saturday.

Click here to be taken to her petfinder page!

A month after Karma's second surgery-she is now able to jump!

A little more than a month after Karma had her second Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO), she is beginning to jump!  Since we brought her home, she has been using her "arms" to pull herself up onto things.  Now, she is beginning to jump.  I wasn't sure if she would ever be able to jump because we have had her for a few months now and we had never seen her jump.

After she gets her last checkup in a week or two, she will be available for adoption.

Karma had her second surgery on Wednesday and is doing great!

Karma had another Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) done on Wednesday.  She was up and about the morning after her surgery and was able to come home just two days later!  For those of you who do not know about Karma, she was a stray who was hit by a car.  She needed two FHOs done on her back hips due to the impact of the car.  The procedures were done about a month apart.  Her first surgery was on January 20th, her second on Feb 18th.  The picture of her laying on the blanket is from today, the other two are from yesterday.

She is soooo happy to be back home!  She loves sitting on our laps and purrs any time we get near her!  She definitely feels at home with us.  

Karma is doing very well 4 days after surgery!

Karma is such a sweet and loving kitty.  As I type this, she is laying next to me, purring and rubbing on my leg.  What surprises me is that she has been this way since she came to me.  One week ago, I brought her home, two weeks after she was hit by a car.

She is 6 months old and her size is a benefit.  She has less weight to carry around so it is putting less stress on her bones.  She weighed 4 pounds 3 ounces one week ago.  We have not weighed her since then.  She came to me emaciated but we want to put more weight on her to get her to a healthy weight.

She has been walking around like a cat who had not been hit by a car.  She has been jumping on the couch and jumping down, even though I have made up a little ramp for her.  She doesn't want to use it-even though I have been trying to get her to.

This morning, I saw her run for a few seconds while chasing a toy but I think she stopped because she realized it was too much for her body.  I just wish she would realize that jumping is hard on her!

The vet told me that being active is key to her recovery.  The more she walks around, the better.  We put her in a cage at night so our other cats don't try to tackle her or jump on her while playing and so we don't roll over her or kick her while we sleep.

The vet is amazed at how well she is doing.  She is touching down with her leg, even though the vet said that some cats don't do that for a week or two.  She was walking the morning after her surgery!  She is doing very, very well.

Karma is recovering from surgery.

Karma had a Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) Tuesday on her femur and hip.  She had an elevated white blood cell count before surgery but the vet attributed it to stress.  While shaving Karma to prepare for surgery, the vet found a small mass in her groin and she . I never touched her belly or legs for fear of hurting her-so I never noticed it.  For her story, click here.

She is recovering well and is back home now.
During the surgery, the vet saw that her hip had dislocated more.  She had an x-ray last Friday and since then, her hip has dislocated more.  So, she fixed her hip as well.

She will need another surgery for her other hip once she recovers from this first surgery.

Today, she is limping slightly and is a little hissy.  I am concerned a little that she is hissing because she is quite possibly the sweetest, most loving cat I have ever met.  She was purring when I met her and basically never stopped.  She loves being with us and purrs while on our lap.  Even though her little body was fractured in many different spots and she was on pain medication, she was still purring.  I am going to call the vet when they open.