Remember Hank, the young Lab in Georgia who needs a home? His owner is moving in with his nephew on Friday, and unfortunately the nephew’s not allowed to have pets at his apartment. Hank still needs a home, and soon! Pass the word!!!
We had a quiet weekend, and it flew by pretty quickly. We ended up leaving the house several times on Saturday (I know! O the humanity!) for various errands. Otherwise, we hung around the house, I did – I’m not even exaggerating – at least 20 loads of laundry, mostly poopy cat beds and blankets, and Fred got a lot of reading in.
On Saturday, I watched Sex and the City 2, and those of you who have seen it will feel deep sympathy for me when I say that I WATCHED THE ENTIRE GODDAMN THING.
“Is it almost over?” Fred asked about an hour in, coming into the living room an hour after I started the movie.
“NO,” I said. “It’s still got a goddamn hour and a half to go!”
Fred expressed horror.
“But I can’t turn it off. I want to see what happens, even though I’m DYING OF BOREDOM.”
Y’all, I truly do not recommend this movie, and I say that knowing that those of you who are die hard SATC watchers like me will watch it anyway, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you. I’m going to go ahead and just refer to it as Sex and the City 2: Assholes in Abu Dhabi.
I don’t want to be a stickler for details, here*, but I’m pretty sure that Samantha went through menopause after she had chemotherapy in the last season of the show. Whyyyyy is she going through menopause a second time, I mean other than providing a super HIGHLAAAAAAAAAAARIOUS** plot point?
We’ve hit the point where all the women are caricatures of themselves*** – especially Samantha – and I’m not sure you could pay me enough**** to watch Sex and the City 3, wherein Samantha gets laid, Miranda frets, Charlotte judges, and Carrie couldn’t find happiness if she had a map and a six-week course in doing so. And you KNOW there’ll be a SATC 3, 4, 5, infinity, because I’m pretty sure Michael Patrick King has something really juicy on some bigwig in Hollywood and has ensured that he’ll be pounding out SATC movies until they bury him.
*That’s a lie. I love to be a stickler for details. I THRIVE in the stickler-detailed environment. My tagline should be “Detail-sticklering since 1968.”
**Not.
***Okay, shaddup, I know that happened sometime during the last season of the show.
****Lie. You know I’m going to go watch it because I’m a loser, baby.
Also, we watched the Nightmare on Elm Street remake with Jackie Earle Haley as Freddie Krueger and Mrs. Coach as the main character’s mother. It wasn’t bad – if you like a horror movie that makes you jump a bunch of times during the movie, then this is the movie for you.
On Sunday, Fred came upstairs to the kitten room where I was cleaning up poop (more on that in the kitten section) and said “I just let Rhyme in the side door.”
In other words, Rhyme jumped the fence and managed to end up on the side porch (thank god, because who knows how long it would have taken for us to realize he was missing?). This means that of the four Bookworms, everyone but Corbie is now collared up. I’ve convinced Fred that we should at least get a fence company out here and find out how much it would cost to have a professional fence (with cat barrier at the top) put up. None of the barrier methods (heh heh) we’ve tried will keep cats who aren’t wearing collars in the yard if they’re of a mind to escape. I’d feel a lot better if I knew they couldn’t get over the fence and run away. And if the cats simply couldn’t get over the fence, they wouldn’t have to wear those damn collars, which uglify up the pictures I take of them during the day.
We’ll see what we find out, anyway. Chances are pretty good that it’ll cost too much and we’ll have to figure out some other way to keep them in (like a cat fence), or just buy more damn collars (did I mention that they RUIN my damn cat pictures?).
On Saturday, we took Jan and Bobby to a vet in Decatur because the diarrhea was NOT STOPPING. It’s not even just diarrhea, these poor babies are just dripping poop everywhere they go – it’s like they don’t even realize they’re doing it, and it’s getting all over their back legs and feet. I would LOVE to go back to last week when my only problem was that they were having diarrhea in the litter box, then stepping in it and tracking it all over the place. After I walked into the room Saturday morning and found poop everywhere, I decided to put them in a cage to contain it (which really I should have done sooner – it sometimes takes me a little while to realize the obvious).
They’d both lost weight since Tuesday, and I didn’t think they should wait ’til Monday to see a vet. Luckily, Fred found a vet that’s open on Saturday and was willing to fit us in. The vet did a fecal and found that in addition to the coccidia (which was apparently not knocked out by the medication we’d given them), they had tapeworms and roundworms. We brought them home and gave them dewormer, and it was a few hours later that the tapeworm poopin’ began.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that Jan passed at least 12 inches worth of tapeworm. It was horrifying and yet so fascinating I couldn’t look away.
Unfortunately Jan and Bobby are still dripping, so they’re still in the cage. I’m keeping them as clean as I can, giving them full-on baths in the morning and again in the evening – I’m not sure whether it would be best to bathe them every couple of hours just to keep them as clean as possible, or if that’s bad for their back ends. Their behinds are horribly swollen and painful and nothing I’ve tried – hemorrhoid cream, Desitin – seems to help (I am absolutely open for suggestions, you guys. It’s painful for me to LOOK at their poor back ends, I can only imagine how painful it is for them).
They’re all on a bland diet, which none of them are particularly crazy about (except, surprisingly, for the wisp-thin Peter Brady, who thinks that rice and chicken is THE BOMB), and I’ve given both Jan and Bobby doses of Nutri-Cal. I hate how thin they look, and I hate how they just sit there and look miserable. I’m keeping them warm (the room has a heater set at 72, and they have a heating pad in their cage.)
I feel like if the damn diarrhea dripping would just STOP, their back ends could heal. I’m a worrier by nature anyway, and you can just imagine how much sleep I’ve lost in the last several days, worrying about these guys. If you could spare a good thought in the direction of two sweet little kittens in Alabama, it would certainly be appreciated.
(On an amusing note, of course they pooped up the carrier on the way to the vet, and the vet tech took them off to bathe them. I said to Fred “Oh, good! They’ll be nice and clean when she brings them back!” because, well, they’re professionals and they know what they’re doing, amiright? I’ve been giving them baths, but I’m no professional – all I do is get them as clean as I can, which is not so easy even though they hardly weigh over a pound, because a kitten who doesn’t want a bath could give Schwarzeneggar a run for his money. I like to use the “hot tub” method, which is where I soak them in one little bucket of warm water for a minute or so, clean their feet and tails with gentle baby wash, rinse them in the same bucket, and then rinse them a second time in a second bucket, wrap them up in clean towels, and put them on a heating pad on low (or if Fred’s giving me a hand, he’ll hold them on his lap in front of the heater). ANYway, the vet tech came back with them, and it looked like all she’d done was spray the worst of it off them, and dried ’em with a towel. HA.)
I haven’t taken any pictures of the kittens in the last few days, because I hate how pitiful they look, but luckily I took a ton of them early last week when they were feeling okay, so those are what you’ll see.
Bobby Brady, shoulder monkey. (He hasn’t climbed up on my shoulder since the middle of last week. Though, considering how much he’s dribbling, I suppose I should be grateful. Or invest in a pair of overalls made out of some sort of easy-wipe material!)
I am truly not quite sure what Greg Brady’s doing here, but it kinda looks like he’s about to take a big ol’ bite out of his own leg.
Cindy Brady. She’s such a sweet little laid-back monkey.
Marcia haz herself a complaint or twelve.
Jan. “I can walk! I CAN WALK!”
Cindy in the front, Jan in the back.
Jan, playing with a toy mouse.
Wild Jan.
Did I mention she’s wild?
“How YOU doin’?”
Previously
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Why can’t I just buy bubble clothing that only touches me at the neck and knees? WHY?
2006: On my way to somewhere important, I’m sure.
2005: Perhaps I’ll make it my New Year’s Resolution to not fill my house with crap in 2006.
2004: Ever had one of those days when you just can’t remember the name of anything?
2003: No entry.
2002: I keep wanting to use the phrase “Sweet crappin’ Jesus!”, and just haven’t determined the right moment to do so. Maybe in the middle of sex?
2001: Her name is Brady James.
2000: If I knew whodunnit, I’d beat that $300 right out of his ass, the little bastard.
1999: They all tend to sound alike, you see, and hearing basically the same sound over and over ain’t the thrill at 31 that it is at 11.
Didn’t Sugarbutt get his name from having a similar complaint? Could you try the sugar on their poor behinds? (Or did he have a prolapse? It was a long time ago and I can’t remember all the details and it’s very late here in Oz so I’m not going to search!!)
Regardless, I hope the poor little mites get better soon. Nothing sadder than a sick kitten.
Yes, Sugarbutt got his name from a sugar compress on his swollen behind. His problem turned out to be impacted anal glands, and once they were expressed he healed pretty quickly. I’m not sure if the sugar compress helped, but if these guys don’t improve today, I’m willing to give it a try. Oddly, I was just thinking about that very thing in the shower this morning.
Their behinds look a tiny bit better as of just now, I THINK (it’s so hard to tell!), so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things are improving.
Wait! If two of the kittens have worms, isn’t it likely that the others do too? My vet always made me treat all of our cats (we only have 4) if one showed up with worms because they all share litter boxes.
In any case I hope the poop-dripping stops SOONEST!!
Yeah, they all have worms. We’re treating all six of them for the coccidia and the worms and they’re all on the bland diet. I have never seen so many friggin’ worms in my entire fostering career. It’s horrific!
I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
Amen to that, sister!
Triple Paste! It’s better than Destin and any other cream out there. We tried everything on our daughter and Triple Paste was the only thing that would work.
I live in Ca. and can find it at CVS, Walmart and Walgreens. Not sure if you have any of those near you. Also, it’s a bit expensive but again, so worth it.
Best of luck and bless you for all that you do!
Thanks, Steph, I’ll check it out!
Yes triple paste is the bomb for anyone of any age with sore back end issues. Expensive but so worth the extra money!
Poor, sweet babies! Good thoughts being sent your way.
For the diarrhea, have you tried Forti Flora? Purina makes it. The vet started us on it with the IBS cat. We call it the Magic Powder around here. It’s a probiotic and supposedly medicine but all my guys love it so much they come running when they hear a packet flapping out of the box.
It also usually resolves diarrhea in a short time. It might help along with the bland diet while the kittens are getting rid of the worms.
It’s usually pretty expensive at the vet’s ($30 for 30 packets) but you can find it online for $23 including shipping. I keep it around as part of the medicine cabinet.
Oh yes, we always have a supply of Forti Flora on hand! When I mix up the chicken and rice for the kittens, I toss a couple of packets of Forti Flora in there as well. I’ve had kittens in the past who’d lick the power right up off the plate.
Same here! That’s why we call it the Magic Powder
Re: SATC -I don’t watch it, but as a breast cancer survivor, I do know that your period can come back after chemo (mine did), although the older you are, the less likely it is. I do know that there was a big uproar among some in the cancer community about her using hormones during menopause, since that’s generally a big no-no for breast cancer survivors.
I had no idea that your period could come back after chemo! I did know that using hormones was a no-no for breast cancer survivors, though that managed to slip right by me while I was watching the movie.
Poor baby kitties! You’re a saint, Robyn, for taking such fabulous care of them. Hang in there – they’ll be fine. And I’m sending lots of good wishes and prayers and anti-curses.
SATC…I tried to sit through a couple episodes of the show and couldn’t. Can’t even imagine how bad the movies are.
Are you wearing shorts in that pic with Cindy? Even here in Southern California it’s way too cold for shorts now.
Yeah, I was wearing shorts in that pic with Cindy. We had a couple of days last week where the temp was in the mid-70s – our last hurrah ’til next year, I expect.
Boudreaux’s Butt Paste is all natural and works wonders on the human variety behinds. I wish it was around when the older kids were little. One of my twins had a colostomy for the first year so the skin didn’t get conditioned when the poo wasn’t so… potent? The poor boy had hamburger meat for a behind. They made several cocktails of stuff and nothing worked. I finally found something myself at an ostomy store and it cleared him right up. I have tried to find it again for my MILs foster babies and cannot find it or recall the name. Boo! Anyway, Boudreaux’s is good stuff and it doesn’t burn. It says it may stain yellow but I have never had that happen. Hope they feel better soon!
Oh – YUCK – my girl had some tummy issues last week and with her thick fur it was rather gross (cycle of pooping, licking irritated area & hairballs). I was so relieved when it improved after a simple warm water sponge bath (which she hated, but it worked to stop the cycle). I cannot imagine the leaking & worms…EW!! I hope they feel better FAST & I’m taking notes in case anything like that comes up in my house again.
someone set off a kitten at our house because they know we feed feral and semi ferals. oldman heard it in the fence line but it was so far gone that by the time we caught it and got it to a vet it was too late. it’s little legs and behind was awful.
your foster fur babies are so lucky to have you and fred.
bless you.
Poor little kitties. I hope they feel better soon, Robyn.
And the picture of Jan playing with the mouse? One of my favorites ever!
Will add the sweet kitties to the ever growing prayer list-atleast prayer is free while everything else goes up and up!
I did watch Sex And The City 2 and it liked it-didn’t love it like the first one but it was ok. I enjoyed seeing their aging bodies change-what a witch I am. I guess I consider it a total fantasy escape and have low expectations except fashion, scenery etc. I would have preferred Amsterdam or Paris over Du Bai. Your descriptions of sequals has me picturing them on scotters, in wheelchairs, in the retirement village or home etc-hope they don’t take it that far.
Do you have AMC? Are you and Fred watching The Walking Dead? I had taped all of them and watched them this weekend. Excellent series-good horror but even better drama. Loved it!
Robin, I just had this same situation with a dog we rescued. He had diarrha so bad his butt was swollen. He also had tape worms. Ask your vet about an antibotic that also stops the diarrha. What they gave us was Metronidazole liquid 50/mg…this works like a miracle. If cats/or dogs have diarrha too long it starts messing up their intestines and they can have life long problems from this.
p.s. the puppy was 5.5 pounds and also dropped weight from all the pooping.
They’re on Metronidazole and Albon, since Saturday.