He started life as a regular outdoor farm cat this spring. His mama is a very sweet grey kitty with a penchant for taking her children on grand adventures, that some do not return from taking. She took a litter of five adventuring and when we finally figured out where there were only three babies who had not been handled for two and half weeks. They were all hiss and spit babies. We brought them home and locked them up in a shed. The girl settled down but the boys refused to let us buy their affection with food and treats.
Once sure they would stick around I turned them loose, they come to meals hang out with the rest of the farm cats. And then ZZ got the sniffles. We got some antibiotics from the vet, but he did not get better. Dehydrated and with the infection passing from his sinuses to his eyes, knowing if we did not do something he was not going to survive, or he might loos his eyes, I took him to the vet. Where he spent 4 days on i.v. and subcutaneous fluids loved on by the techs, given meds, and eye drops and gently "force-fed" food slurry. Only to come home and be given much the same treatment at home. He was put up in a large dog kennel with a litter pan and a heat pad. He only left the heat pad to use the tray or come out and get fluids, meds and eyedrops. For a week did didn't leave the heating pad. After about a week he started to chew on the syringe during feeding. Then eating on his own soon after, drinking water in a few more days. I should have journaled his journey better, but I didn't. He was still frail and super thin, eating soft kitten food slurry and drinking kitten milk replacer.
His body score was terrible. But he was feeling better, over Christmas he had Ian home from trucking to buddy up with, as he was living in his room. He was enjoying the company, and the freedom of being out of the kennel. He continued to use the tray, not messing anywhere else. So, he's been allowed to free roam the room.
He's had a follow-up with the vet, and he was loved and doted on. And poked and prodded a little. He did not appreciate having his temp taken. We had some concerns about a scap around his ear tip being ring worm, the vet didn't think it was, as it wasn't florescent.
His eyes are still a concern, he may still loose vision, or his eyes, but it certainly appears he will survive. Yesterday, his eartip came off while I was petting him. Apparently, it was frostbit, and I expect his tail may have been as well. That is a concern for later.
All that said, his eyes are still quite red and irritated. If you don't want to see his photo, don't keep scrolling.
Here he is
Million dollar kitty
Attic gremlin
ZZ
......
No comments:
Post a Comment