Pet Columns: June 2009 Archives

About 3:30 a.m. Saturday, my Maine Coon lookalike, Yukon, started howling when he was in the litter box. Not a good sign. Yukon is prone to urinary blockages; he had two major ones before, and one partial blockage.

I gave him an amoxytab, which sometimes helps if I catch it early enough, and I called his vet as soon as possible in the morning. They said to bring him in at 10:15 a.m.

The vet said Yukon didn't seem to be blocked by the time we got to the office, but gave him some metacam and zenequin and some subcutaneous fluid.

After we got home, Yukon seemed to be feeling better. I went to Dover to volunteer at Habitat for Humanity's Women Build for a few hours, and when I got home, Yukon seemed to be his old self again.

But at about 11:30 p.m., he was really in bad shape.

Of course, since it was near midnight on a Saturday night, the only option was the Animal Emergency Clinic. Ouch! It costs $75 just to walk through the door of the clinic, and whatever treatment you get is usually way more expensive than the regular vet. But urinary blockages can be fatal, and there's no way Yukon could wait until Monday morning.

I got to the emergency clinic at about 12:15 a.m. They took Yukon to the back right away, while I was filling out the paperwork. Then I sat in the waiting room until about 1:30 a.m., when they called me into an exam room.

Yukon was going to have to spend the weekend at the clinic, hooked up to IV fluids and a catheter. Also x-rays, bloodwork, anesthesia, etc. Cost: between $1,500 and $1,750.

Later, at home, I checked on the kittens in the cage. The one black-and-white kitten lunges and spits at me whenever I get near the cage. The other one hisses, but nothing that extreme. This could take a while...

I haven't heard anything from the stray cat's owner, so I'm assuming they don't want to use the spay appointment I had set up at Animal Rescue.

I saw Lucy "flirting" with Chuckie, and he was trying to mate with her. So far, she's smacking him, but I don't like where this is heading.

I think I'll use the spay appointment at Animal Rescue for Lucy. But that means I should catch all the kittens before her appointment, so they're not out there on their own while she's recuperating.

After dark, I went "fishing" for kittens with the string toy. After about an hour and a half, one finally came out far enough while chasing the string that I could grab him. (I say "him," but at this point that's just a guess.) It's one of the black-and-white ones.

When I grabbed him, he meowed, and Lucy came running at me, growling. I had to put the carrier between me and her, and back away from her until I got to the door.

Later, I went out again and caught the other black-and-white kitten. Again, Lucy came running at me, growling. But then she ran under the porch, probably to protect the ones that were left.

I put both of the kittens I caught in a large cage in what used to be my office. It's a cage with shelves for the kittens to climb up on. Hopefully, they won't have to be in there for long, just until they calm down enough that I can work with them to get them used to people so they can find homes.

They're really cute! Any takers? (Photos to come later.)

Off and on, throughout the day, I went out to try to make friends with the kittens. I figure if I spend enough time out there, they'll get used to me and won't run away.

I discovered their mama cat, Lucy, LOVES french fries -- especially from Sonic. After I gave her 3 or 4 fries, she actually let me pet her for the first time. Hmmm... maybe, if I can get her to like me, the kittens will let me pick them up eventually.

Later, Chuckie came looking for a meal. He's a big black-and-white male cat I've seen around occasionally.

Then I saw him under the porch with Lucy and the kittens. I was worried he might hurt the kittens, because sometimes male cats will kill kittens. But the kittens were crawling all over him, and he would occasionally lick their heads. So I guess they're one big happy family.

Two of the kittens are white with black spots, just like Chuckie. Two others are calicos, just like Lucy. And the fifth one is white with orange spots.

I really have to catch the kittens soon. They're starting to get more playful, and chase each other around the yard -- sometimes, toward the street. So far, they stop before they get there, but they're getting bolder each day.

Later

Good news! The two boys who brought the stray cat to my house yesterday came back to say they've found the owner. The owner has a broken foot, so a neighbor came down to pick up the cat for her. I warned her the cat might be pregnant, and told her they could have to spay appointment I had set up at Animal Rescue if they want it. She said she'd tell the owner.

I've started using a string to entice the kittens out from under the porch. They come partway out, but if they get too close to me, Lucy "trills" to call them back. And once, she put her paw on a kitten's forehead to hold him back!

After sitting outside for several hours last night, trying to get the kittens to come out from under the porch so I could catch them, I finally went to bed around 3 a.m.

At around 9 a.m., I was woke up to the sound of my orange cat Kenny gasping and wheezing. (He sleeps right next to me, with his head on my pillow, so it's pretty loud.) Kenny has asthma, and for the past week or so, it's been bad. But this is the worst I've ever seen it -- he's not just coughing this time, he's really struggling to breathe, and his tongue is hanging out.

I gave him his prednisone pills and waited to see if they're going to help. Meanwhile, I called his vet and they said to bring him in right away. So I packed poor wheezing Kenny into the cat carrier and off we went.

Some of my cats go to the vet that's only 2 minutes away from my house, but Kenny still goes to the vet he originally went to, which is more like 15 or 20 minutes away. By the time we got to the vet's office, Kenny was breathing better, so he probably would have been fine if I had just waited a bit longer for the pills to work. But I had never seen him struggle so hard to breathe.

The vet did give Kenny some new medicine, so I guess it's good that we went. The new medicine is a bronchodilator, which is supposed to open the airway when Kenny has a bad asthma attack. It's still a pill, though; I was hoping for something that didn't have to dissolve before it starts to work.

Later, as I was standing on the porch talking to Linda, another neighbor, about the kittens (she had seen them from across the street when they were out in the yard playing), a neighbor from up the street and her two boys stopped by. She was carrying a young brown tabby cat, about 6 months old, that they had found.

I'm pretty sure this was the cat I had seen in the alley the previous week when I was coming home from work. When I saw it, a big black-and-white cat was on top of it, in the middle of the alley. I stopped and tried to chase the big one away, but the small one had run away, too. At the time, I wasn't sure if the cats were mating or fighting.

Now that I knew the cat was a female, I was pretty sure I knew the answer to that question.

When I told her I hadn't lost a cat, she said everyone she had asked said the cat wasn't theirs. She said she couldn't keep the cat, and was going to release it back into the alley where it was found.

The cat is very friendly, so I'm pretty sure she belongs to someone and that someone's looking for her.

I"Oh,don't do that. Give her to me, I'll keep her until we find the owners or find her another home." Who said that? Oh yeah, it was me. (Sometimes I hate myself!)

I knew if she was released back into the alley, she'd have kittens out there, and eventually some or all of them would find their way to my house, anyway.

I called Animal Rescue to schedule an appointment to have her spayed. She goes next Tuesday evening. Cost: $44 for spaying and vaccinations.

So, I spent part of the evening setting up a room for THIS cat.

Then I went out to try to catch kittens -- still no luck. Boy, are they fast!

I've been looking forward to a week off; not going anywhere, just catching up on projects around the house. I'm hoping to paint at least the downstairs rooms while I'm off.

Spent the day planting some hostas a friend gave me (thanks, Jane!), picking strawberries and weeding the flower beds and vegetable gardens. Sounds like work, but I find gardening to be relaxing.

At dinnertime, I stopped to talk to my neighbor JoAnn on my way into the house. While we were talking, a stray calico cat that has been hanging around lately came out from under my porch, hoping for some food. We call her Lucy.

JoAnn's poodle, Caesar, was sniffing around the porch, and Lucy ran at him and smacked him on the face, something she never did before. Then she ran under the porch. When I looked under the porch, I saw Lucy with a small kitten about 4 or 5 weeks old. So cute!

As I was telling JoAnn about the kitten, I noticed another one farther back. Then another, and another.... five kittens! All very cute, but as anyone who knows me can tell you, the last thing I need is more cats. But I can't just let them out there, because I live on Main Street with a lot of traffic, and also because they'll grow up and make even more kittens!

The kittens are very wild, so it's going to take some work to catch them all. And Lucy is a great mama cat, and very protective of her kittens. I've got my work cut out for me...

Spent the rest of the evening clearing out and kitten-proofing a room for the kittens, IF I can catch them.

Later, around midnight, I went out to try to catch kittens. Came back in around 2:30 a.m. -- no luck!

From Paula Moore, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:

Molly the cow had big dreams -- and they didn't involve buns or barbecue sauce.

With "barbecue season" officially here, Molly's story is a gentle reminder that the animals on our plates were once inquisitive individuals who valued their lives, solved problems, formed friendships and experienced fear and pain -- just as we do. And it's also a good reason to skip the hamburger patties and grill up delicious veggie burgers instead.