Could be worse...

I had to repost this from my male co-worker:

Kid at Tesoro "sir umm do you know there's poop in your beard?"
Me "oh, there it is I was wondering why I kept smelling puppy shit"
kid "puppy? Oh thank god!"
Me "could've been worse"
kid "poop on your face isn't worse?"
Me "nope I could be working at Tesoro"
Kid "damn good point"

I love that we keep a sense of humor in these matters. 

In other news, Siouxsie is still in the Hello Kitty room.  Her cold is gone, but her eye infection is still lingering.  She's definitely recovering,  but these infections take a very long time to resolve.  I am very sad that she will not be ready for our day-after-Thanksgiving "Black Friday" event.  I am having to come up with ever more inventive ways to keep her confined to the room without resorting to shutting the whole door, which I hate doing because that room is on the north side of the house, and it gets very dark and cold in there without having some openness to the rest of the house.  

Oh yeah, and remember when I said she keeps herself at a nice trim, healthy body weight?  Well, I lied.  She's plump.  Approaching tubby.  Oh well, at least I know she's happy.

 

Hello Kitty Room is Popular

Well, Mr. Rogers, the kitty with the tumor in his face is no longer with me. After a brief rebound where he seemed to be doing better in terms of overall well-being even though he never re-hydrated properly or gained weight, he began to slide back downhill again, reverting to his constant pacing and poor appetite. I really felt that the mass on his face was causing him disorientation and pain. He had two weeks of safety and warmth, food and medication, but he never found the comfort and relief from pain he deserved. 

After getting the Hello Kitty room cleaned and reset, I'm afraid the it is once again occupied. A previous tenant, Siouxsie Sioux is back. She managed to catch the cold that was going through the shelter, and it hit her hard. She's been on death's door for more than a week, neither eating nor drinking, and I finally couldn't stand it anymore and brought her back to see if it would help. Did it ever! After 10 minutes of prowling around checking out the room, she sat down in front of the water bowl and drank probably 1/2 cup. Then she cuddled and purred with me for a while, visited the litter box, drank some more water, and settled in for a grooming session followed by a nap.

I have no idea what we're going to do with this cat long term. She's simply not cut out to be in the shelter, in terms of either temperament or immune system. She hates other cats and needs to be in a single pet household. She's such a lovely creature, sleek and shiny, and a perfect medium size. She doesn't look anything like the scrawny, scabby, hairless, wreck of a cat that first came to us. Keeps herself at a nice body condition, not too thin or too plump. She's happy and affectionate, perhaps even annoyingly so, if you're used to a more independent pet. Well, ok, she's kind of a mess right now, with runny nose, swollen eyes, poor body condition, and shabby fur from being sick (but she still HAS her fur this time), but give her a week and she'll be good as new, as long as she hits the food bowl the way she did the water. Someone PLEASE adopt this cat! It's no fair to keep bouncing her back and forth between the shelter and an isolated bedroom at my house.

I think they're multiplying...

I have another bottle baby.  She's about the same age and size as the one yesterday, and considering I'm running out of cage space at home, I'm declaring them siblings.  I dub them Samantha and Darrin (Bewitched.)

Happy Goodbye

I had to say goodbye to Dove, the little lilac kitten from the LDS church yesterday.  She plumped up nicely and was ready to go to her new home... with one of my veterinarians!  So happy she got a good home, I know she'll be spoiled by the whole family, and I'll still be able to get regular updates on her as she grows up.

Her poor little brother is alone now.  He's still half the size he should be, but is in great health.  I still can't believe he survived.

One of my co-workers is going on vacation, so I've got her bottle babies while she's gone.  Unfortunately, one was quite sick and died today.  The other two look great, and I hope to have them weaned soon.  To top things off, I got another little bottle baby today.  The corner of my bedroom where I keep kitten cages is looking like some sort of trashy apartment complex.

Mr. Rogers in My Neighborhood

This is my latest special care kitty, Mr. Rogers. We're still not sure if his misshapen face is due entirely to infection, or if there's a tumor in there. It has responded to antibiotics, but he's still lumpy. He's spent the last couple days anxiously prowling a large dog crate, so I finally relented and have given him free run of the Hello Kitty room now that is face isn't draining quite so freely. Oddly, he is still anxiously prowling the perimeter of the room, always clockwise, always hugging the walls, always keeping his eyes straight on the floor in front of him. I fear his eyesight is gone or nearly so even in his good eye. And since he won't go up even the 6" onto the low bed, I'm going to have to figure out a snug comfy place that he can find but won't be an obstacle. But he is eating well and fights getting fluids to the point where I can no longer do it, so he must feel ok! It's sad though, I'll be surprised if he can ultimately be saved. I'm really pretty sure that's a tumor.

Transaction in a Dimly Lit Parking Lot

The phone rings RIGHT at closing time tonight.  It's a lady in a town an hour away.  Her daughter was driving into town with a friend and came across an injured cat.  She has it in her car, and wants to know if she can bring it in.  Well, nobody will be here, and all the vet clinics are closed.  I finally agree to meet her in the grocery store parking lot, as I have a couple errands to run before I head home, and groceries is one of them.  I'll collect the cat, take him home and stabilize him as much as possible, and decide what to do with him in the morning.  Nothing else I can really do that late anyway.  When I finally meet up with the young girl and cat, my first thought was the good news is I don't think it's head trauma. The bad news is, I think it's either a tumor or an infected eye that has ruptured through the sinuses and out below the cheekbone. I'll be stopping off at the vet clinic on the way to work tomorrow I guess.

Still Not Dead Yet!

So the little chocolate kitten is doing quite well. Eating on his own, peeing and pooping normally, maintaining his own body temperature, and interacting with his sister and me. I got all the nasty grass seeds that were packed into his eye sockets blasted out with syringes of saline. God, I've never seen anything like that. Eww. But he's now dehydrated to a normal level. Or a not scary level. I mean he's not a dry husk of a kitten with his eyeballs sunk clear into his skull. So as of now I'm bumping his survival odds to 70%. Not bad for a nearly dead, dried out, emaciated husk of a fleabag!

Only Mostly Dead II

Well, the two kittens from the LDS church are still with me. Both kittens have stabilized enough to be bathed, getting rid of most of the flea population. The female is eating on her own, though she really enjoys taking a turn at the syringe feeding I give her brother too. The boy... well, I'm still holding at 40% odds of survival for him, which is up dramatically from the 5% I gave him when he came in. He's happy to have his sister back, will sit up, move around a little, and change positions to cuddle with her. If I stand him on the counter, he will take a few steps, and he's acting almost neurological symptom free. I have gotten the clumps of grass seeds out of his eye sockets. He pees, but has not pooped, and still doesn't regulate his own body temperature. Only time will tell if his digestive system will function normally.

Only Mostly Dead

Two weeks ago, I was commenting on what a strange kitten season it's been, we've had a fraction the usual number in the shelter, and I've had only just a few litters of bottle babies. Last week a combined litter of 3 and 5 weeks olds comes in. They're nice and healthy, and we have a momma who recently weaned and is willing to care for them, though she doesn't have enough milk currently for all 7. So I've left the 3 bigger ones with her full time with a couple extra bottles of formula during the day for good measure, and throw the little ones in with her during the day but take them home at night. Works well enough.

Yesterday morning, a young woman calls, said she spotted a couple kittens under a bush behind the Mormon church day before, but left them there assuming they had a mom. Now one's dead, can she bring the remaining one in? When she arrives a short time later, she has a lovely 5 week old lilac female, skinny, dehydrated, anemic, and jumping with fleas. But she's strong and stable, and after she's had a chance to eat and settle in, I give her a flea bath. 

Wednesday is Ringworm Bath Day, so I spend most the afternoon bathing kittens. One litter of kittens is finally cleared for neutering and adoption, after 8 weeks of treatment! More are not cleared. One kitten in particular is very frustrating, her brothers have been clear for two weeks, she still has spots. I'm about to shave her down and take the advice of one crazy, now-out-of-business vet, and dip the poor kitten in bleach solution. I'm on the last litter of kittens, one of which has quite possibly the worst case I've ever seen. Poor little girl was nearly bald before her bath, and almost all the rest of her hair came out in the rinse. She looks like a crusty Sphynx now.

Anyway, while those guys are stewing in their shampoo, a guy calls and says he found some kittens, they're real little, and he thinks they're "not doing well," which he repeats several times. Again repeats "real little" and doesn't think the eyes are open. So I tell him to bring them in. He is very concerned and confused about having to bring them in himself. They're "not doing well." I say he'll be fine, just put them in a box, or even just wrapped in a towel. He arrives a short time later with a very nearly dead kitten in a shoebox. He apologizes, but the other one that was there this morning is gone, could only find this one. This kitten is chocolate, and jumping with fleas. "Hey, this wasn't near the Mormon church was it?" Turns out it was. So I assure him that the missing kitten came in earlier, she is with us, stable, de-flea'd and doing well. This one, however, is not likely to survive another hour. He is chilled, his tongue is blue, and he's doing that horrible agonal back-arching thing. Boys are distraught because kitten might not make it, I am KICKING myself for not telling the morning caller to bring the dead kitten too. Clearly, he wasn't dead, and 6 hours might have made the difference in being able to save him.

Regardless, I pack him in heat packs, squirt some subq fluids in him, rub some Karo syrup on his gums, and finish rinsing the last of the ringworm kittens. When I check on him later, he's responsive. So I give him a little Nutri-cal. An hour later, he's holding his head up, but acting neurological. Whatever, it's improvement!

Logic

Me: We're a no kill shelter. Her: Yay!
Me: We don't kill one cat to make room for another. Her: Yay!
Me: So I can't get your cat in until a cage opens up. Her: That's bullshit!
Some people have no concept of logic.

Do I Judge Thee?

So a woman calls to inquire about surrendering her cat. Long story short, the indoor/outdoor cat with no cat door or litter box peed in a potted plant, therefore is no longer welcome in the home. After taking about 8 minutes to explain why she can no longer keep the cat, she asks me if I judge her harshly. I very cheerfully tell her that yes, I think she's a moron.  Her cat is far brighter than she is. After all, he reasoned that if he is supposed to do his business outside in plants and dirt, but the outside is not available to him in his time of need, then this nice pot of plants and dirt is a more viable alternative than the rug or pile of laundry.  (Ok, so I *politely* told her she was a moron, and didn't actually use the word "moron."  I do have *some* customer service skills!)

Jack Skellington.  Came into the shelter as a stray, thin and in poor condition.  He was a resident of my Hello Kitty room for a time.  Things were looking up here at the time of this picture when he decided to start eating, but ultimately he didn't make it.

Raggedy Andy came to us with a pretty nasty face wound.  I was so focused on the open drainage on the side of his face that I didn't even notice his jaw was broken at first.  Sweet cat, super thin.  So we ran him into the vet to have a feeding tube inserted.  When they insert the tube, they snap a quick x-ray to make sure it's placed correctly. What they found on the films surprised them!  Poor Andy had been shot in the head, and had numerous bullet fragments still in there.  So they cleaned out the ones they could get to, and reset his jaw.  Well, without wiring the jaw shut, the reset didn't hold, so he still had a crooked face.  Oh well...

This is Andy all set up in my Hello Kitty room with his feeding tube.  He was a delightful patient and guest, although he never lost his appetite, so he always wanted to eat the food out of the syringe instead of getting it squirted in his tube.  But we had to keep his mouth relatively clean to let it heal.  He was with me for a couple weeks, until he was able to eat sufficiently on his own and the tube could be removed.

After he returned to the shelter for adoption, he was quite a celebrity, and a volunteer favorite.  He was a TERRIBLY messy eater, since that poor jaw never quite worked the way it should.  He also never grew out of the name Raggedy, because he wasn't able to groom himself either.  So, he was a messy, greasy, but oh-so-affectionate kitty who eventually found a tolerant person to adopt him.

Sigh

We are a fully functioning animal shelter. Contrary to popular belief, we are not an animal theme park who's sole purpose is to provide entertainment and community service hours to students and sorority girls. If you ask why a dog is leaving, and I reply "it's been claimed by an owner," you should not be surprised. Or disappointed because it was cute and you wanted to play with it. Some areas of the shelter are purely functional, and of no interest to visitors or volunteers. There are no cats needing attention in the laundry room closet, nor will it provide you with access to other areas of the shelter that you cannot see an immediate and obvious path to. We also share a parking lot with a public dog park. If there was a dog out there that is now gone, it's because it went home with it's owner. I promise you it is not behind the "quarantine" sign.

Lousy January

Can I just get drunk, pass out, and not open my eyes again until the month is over?

So my grandma went into the hospital end of last month, and has been very ill since. She passed away last Tuesday. Yesterday, a dog in very bad shape came into the shelter, and promptly went to the vet clinic and spent the night. He died today, a couple hours after I euthanized my own dog, Toad. 3 out of 4 kittens that we've had for a very long time tested positive again for FIV and had to be euthanized. Another dear friend and co-worker had her grandma hospitalized today, as well as had to euthanize her own dog, Noel.

Tiny bright spots for the day: law enforcement plans to follow up on the neglected-to-death dog, and our little pregnant rat terrier cross gave birth to 3 live puppies, 2 of which are expected to remain alive. (Puppy number two is half the size of the others, and somewhat resembles a hydrocephalic ferret. Newborns, regardless of species, aren't cute at first, and this one is a particularly weird example. And mom got a little carried away while cleaning her, and chewed a couple toes off.)

So who's joining me for whiskey shots tonight??

Edit:  The misshapen puppy died as expected.  Another puppy also died, seemingly of an internal congenital defect.  The remaining puppy survived and is healthy, happy, and totally spoiled in the home of our newest employee.