We had no idea what was about to happen and I felt… envious. Is that strange?
I wonder if, in four years, I’ll come across an entry at the end of August of this year, and think We had no idea what was coming and wish that I could go back in time and warn the people of New Orleans of what was coming.
But who would ever have believed it?
* * *
Today has been the busiest day I’ve had in ages. And now it’s after 2:00, which is way later than I usually get my entries posted, so I’m going to yammer on about the kittens a little, put up some pictures, and call it an entry.
The kittens are almost 12 weeks old. They’re all from the same litter, and they are ADORABLE.
However, they are also stinky. Because they have not only
giardia, but also
coccidia. Two of them seem to be mostly over it, but two of them are having diarrhea and one of them… oy. You don’t want to be eating if you’re reading this, trust me. He has pretty bad diarrhea, and – I warned you – his rectum is protruding about about inch from his body. The straining to poop is causing that, and when I asked the shelter manager what to do, she said that someone had recently told her to try a damp paper towel with sugar on it, held against the area. She hasn’t tried it herself, but said that she’d been told it worked well.
I know I’ve got cat foster parents out there – anyone ever heard of such a thing? I think if I can just get him past the diarrhea the area won’t be quite so enraged and things can go back to normal.
When Fred gets home, we’re going to give him a quick bath (the kitten, that is. Not Fred.) because every time he uses the litter box he gets poo all over his backside (again, the kitten. Not Fred.), and I’ve been wiping him down with baby wipes, but a) That apparently is quite uncomfortable, because the whole AREA is painfully swollen and b) The baby wipes aren’t getting the dried stuff off. Once the area’s clean, I guess we’ll give the sugar remedy a try.
Foster parents, if you’ve got suggestions, my ears are open!
I have a feeling that bleach is going to be my best friend for the forseeable future.
Want to meet the little monsters? You know you do. (By the way, I didn’t name them.)
Little Cal. She’s the only girl. She’s also the one who spends all her time kicking the other kitties’ butts. I love little torti kitties, they’re such characters.
Barrett. He’s so gorgeous, this picture doesn’t do him justice at all.
Smitty. You KNOW how I love the little orange tabbies! Smitty’s the least affected by the giardia and coccidia. He’s also the most apt to get into a fight with Little Cal.
Sad Eyes. The only way I can tell the difference between Sad Eyes and Smitty is that Sad Eyes is smaller. Well that, and he’s always got poo hanging off his back end. Yes, poor little Sad Eyes is the one with the issues. And yes, I promise I’ll never slap up a picture of said rectal issues, because no one really needs to see that. Sad Eyes is my personal favorite of the four, because all you have to do is touch him with one finger, and he purrs immediately, very loudly. Poor Sad Eyes.
All of today’s uploaded pictures are
here.
All four kittens are pretty active. They all chase each other around and play, and they’re not so friendly they’ll come over and climb on me, but it’s only been a day. I suspect that they’ll be climbing on me soon enough. Sad Eyes is the friendliest, and despite the fact that I keep hurting him (ie, wiping his behind with a baby wipe), he keeps coming back over so I can pet him.
For the time being, obviously, we’re keeping them sequestered from our cats.
* * *
By the way,
Rambo and Jodie were adopted Saturday evening – together. Yay!!!!
* * *
The other day Fred and I discussed the fact that we don’t have nearly enough carriers for the number of cats that we have. If, god forbid, we needed to evacuate, there’s no way on earth we could fit all four of our cats in the one cardboard carrier we have. So Saturday, knowing that I was going to need a decent carrier on Sunday anyway, I went to the pet store and bought a carrier with a door in the front AND a door in the top. I’m going to buy one more at a point in the near future, so that we’ll have three carriers. We can put Spot in one, Miz Poo in one, and Mister Boogers and Spanky in one.
Anyway, I brought the new carrier home and put it together, and within a minute, guess who was in it, checking it out?
He’s the nosiest Booger there ever was.
* * *
Previously
2004: No entry.
2003: Since he’s a year older than me, that’ll give me two years to theatrically take to my bed and waste away. Sounds about right.
2002: Obviously whoever lives at 308 belongs to the Bitchypoo “If I don’t know you, I ain’t answerin’ the door” school of thought.
2001: I hate you, Mr. Mailman.
2000: Only US Magazine would consider it newsworthy that Michael Douglas is changing diapers he hasn’t been wearing. ]]>
Whew! I was getting worried that I’d miss my bitchypoo fix for the day. (Little Cal is so pretty!)
WOO HOO for Rambo & Jodie getting adopted together!! That is such fabulous news!!!
Congrats on the new babies. They look adorable. I have no words of wisdom for poor Sad Eyes, but I hope it clears quickly for both of you.
Oh, I’m so glad Jody and Rambo got adopted together!!! Thanks for letting us know. You’re a saint for taking on more kittens (lucky for them they’re cute)!! I’m looking forward to getting to know them through your pictures.
It sounds like poor Sad Eyes has something that’s more common in humans, called rectal prolapse…it’s when the rectum starts to turn inside out, because of sticky poo. The only thing I know of to fix it, is suppositories, to push the rectum back in. But it sounds like you’re saying he’s just really swollen? Poor kitty 🙁
The only advice I can give on cat ass wiping procedures is to make sure the babywipes are alcohol and fragrance-free. Those ingredients tend to irritate sensitive areas.
Since some of the tissue you are wiping is prolasped,maybe it would be good to use the more medical-type of wipe.
Ha,I just remembered how raw potatoes are really good for cooling,healing and drawing out infection. I’ve used them for that purpose.
Imagine the movies you can get with the kitten wearing a raw potato poultice diaper!
That sounds perverted
rectal prolapse is one of those nasty things you encounter when you foster baby animals…i’ve dealt with it in baby skunks, raccoons, ferrets and kittens.
i’ve never tried the sugar thing, but it doesn’t sound like it would be too pleasant for the little guy. here’s what’s worked for me:
(for the rest of this, i suggest the wearing of latex gloves.)
clean his backside with saline solution – 1/8 teaspoon of iodized salt to 1 cup of water. try holding a dripping washcloth to his ass when he is in a snuggling mood to soften the dried yuck.
then grease up the prolapsed part with some ky jelly and try to work it back in little by little. (this takes a while.)
it will either stay in by itself or fall back out again. if it falls out again, try to keep it greased up with vaseline so nothing gets stuck to it. when he stops having pooping problems, try to work the prolapse back in again. if it doesn’t stay even after his pooping troubles are over, he might need to have a suture put in by a vet.
i forget if you mentioned what kind of litter you are using. obviously stay away from anything absorbent, or it will get stuck to his poor little butt.
hope this helps – feel free to get in touch if you’ve got any questions. as i mentioned, i’ve dealt with this several times, and all of my babies turned out fine.
Jenn: I think it’s just really swollen, but to be honest, I’m not sure. I guess what we’re going to do is solve the giardia/ coccidia issue and then worry about his poor little ass.
For the record, walking around with sugar stuck to his ass doesn’t seem to be doing anything for him.
Rundmc: If I were to use raw potatoes and it worked, I’d totally have to change his name to something potato-related. I think “Tater Butt” would work well. 🙂
My girlfriend’s cat had the most awful, disgusting gas I’ve ever smelled anywhere in life for the first, I don’t know, six months? of his life. He eventually grew out of it (thank GOD) but it took a while.
The kitties are adorable! Sounds like you are doing a great job disinfecting everything. That is a very good thing as getting giardia is a very unfun thing to get as a human. My oldest got infected at a temporary sitter’s house right before we left Texas and moved to California and then I got it. It is awful…ugh My giardia, it turned out, didn’t get killed by the medicine the first time even though the test showed it was gone. It went dormant and popped back up years later. The difference the second time was I recognized the symptoms immediately and got treated for it again.
Okay, I nearly cried when I saw that Jodie and Rambo had been adopted together. Not just because they get to stay together, but also because that means they really aren’t coming back. Sadness! Tear.
Little Cal is soooo pretty!!! Poor Sad Eyes – I hope he gets better and his little butt goes back to normal!!
Hi Robyn-
Last Friday, my poor little Miss Pittypat went to meet her maker. She left behind 3 little babies. They are almost 2 weeks old. So, quess what? I now have triplets! I went to the vet and got the milk replacement and a small bottle, although the syringe is doing better at this point. I know bigger kitties can have sharp little teeth, but the nipple on the bottle is hard! One of them actually purrs! I have never know one to purr so early. Methinks he is going to be my favorite….
Poor Sad Eyes — that can’t be fun at all. But I have utter faith in you, Robyn — you’ll have all four of them healed and Sad Eyes’ “outie” reversed in no time.
I’m so happy about Rambo and Jodie!
What a sweet little bunch Robyn.
How about trying those wipes for hemoroids-Preparation H? on Sad Eyes. Those would reduce the swelling, and clean him up both. They are pretty mild on sensative tissue, but might be a bit expensive…just a thought.
Ok Robyn, be strong, this is the ultimate foster kitty test.
The orange kitties. Oh how I envy you (except for the poopy part)
And good to know you cleared up that Fred is quite adept at using the litter pan whilst keeping his backside clean. That is good to know.
Rectal prolapse, yes. My Simon has it, from a nasty de-worming incident when I got him from an abusive home. The vet told me he may have to have a suture put in, but he never did, and he’s fine. Although, once in a while when he poops, he can’t ‘clench’ so he walks around with a little ‘present’ sticking out of his butt. Ew. But I love him.
That’s such good news about Jodie and Rambo.
Well, we used a sugar pack on Monty when the gash on his paw was infected, and it worked wonders. Completely got rid of the infection and brought the swelling down as a result. However, if Sad Eyes is swollen because of something other than infection (probably just irritation and strain), then sugar may not do any good. Sugar works on infection because it draws bacteria out. Good luck!
I am coming down there to steal Cal away from you!
I’m so happy that Jodie and Rambo got adopted together. I’m sure they’re happy!
Hey Robyn- The new babies look adorable. I can’t remember if any of your previous guys had coccidia. From a foster standpoint I can tell you that once the coccidia oocysts get into your house, you never get rid of them. They’re not a danger to adult cats or humans but most of your foster kittens after this will start to show some symptoms and will need to be treated. The prolapses usually only happen with the most extreme and untreated cases. Witch Hazel on a cotton ball held on the prolapse for a couple of seconds seems to be soothing. I also dab on a bit of vaseline after cleaning. Some people use Prep H or a hydrocortisone cream, but I’ve always worried about the kitten licking it off. I’ve never heard of the sugar treatment. I’d be interested to hear if it works. Good luck with the new babies. I’m a total sucker for orange tabbies myself…
Robbie: Awwww, I’m sorry and… congratulations! I bet they’re unbearably cute. 🙂 I’ve heard that if kittens are separated from their mother at a very young age, they purr earlier, for some reason. Interesting, eh?
Beth: I’m trying to think; I think that the first bunch had coccidia, but to be honest I can’t remember for sure! That’s the sort of thing I should write down, huh? We actually started using Tuck’s wipes last night, since we had them in the house, and they’re just witch hazel. At this point, I think he’s so sore that he doesn’t like anything going on back there, so I’m trying to keep him clean and comfortable, and once he’s past the diarrhea maybe things will improve. I’ve been doing the sugar thing and I don’t know if it’s helping, but I’m going to give it a few more days before I try anything else. I’m not sure how walking around looking like a sugared donut will help his ass, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting! 🙂
Hooray for Jodie and Rambo!
And I’m so happy to see a fresh to batch of foster kitties. Giardia and coccidia begone!
Witch Hazel works wonders on inflamed assholes…people’s too! Make a pad out of toilet paper, soak it with Witch Hazel and apply it to the sore area for 2 minutes or as long as you can keep them still. You can buy Witch Hazel practically anywhere (Target, Walmart, drugstores, grocery stores) and it’s less than $2 a bottle. It truly is a miracle. Try it if you have hemmeroids or if you are ever just generally iritated down there. It’s a main ingredient in Preparation H but costs way less.