Last week, I blogged about how we'd found a kitten in our backyard. I made a vet appointment for the day after we found her, knowing there could be physical problems--fleas, worms, runny eyes to name a few. What I was really concerned about was feline leukemia. I think that's why we didn't name her before the appointment.
My husband kept the appointment because I had another appointment around the same time. Fortunately, the vet took him early and he put me on speaker phone so we could have a conference call and I could ask questions. After forty years of marriage, he knows I always have questions! But the fact that this vet and tech would do that proved we'd chosen a good veterinarian.
The kitten's little paws were scraped from whatever time she'd been outside on her own. We'd had a week of storms. But the vet said they'd heal. Her coat was good which shows some degree of health and she didn't have ear mites. But... She did have fleas and the vet gave her the first part of that treatment, saying we should give her a bath in 48 hours to wash away the flea dirt. I had never given a cat a bath! She also gave her the worming medicine and her first distemper shot. Her runny eyes were a problem because of our other cats. But she advised us to keep the cats separated, watch her eyes and also be alert for sneezing which could indicate an infection.
Thank goodness the feline leukemia test was negative.
The total cost for the vet was $130.
When my husband brought her home, we considered names. I had created a character named Zoie in one of my books who ran away to find her bliss. Just holding her, stroking her and caring for her filled me with a lot of joy. So we named our new family member Zoie Joy.
Because Zoie's little body was being taxed with the vaccine, fleas and a possible virus/infection, I wanted to help her heal. We chose healthy kitten foods (Blue and Wellness, both wet and dry with the intention of trying them one at a time) and bought a milk substitute for kittens that was chock full of vitamins. We left a tablespoon of that at night. Zoie was eating about 8 times a day. Kittens should be able to have food on demand whenever they want it during that first year. I had decided to feed her mostly canned food and supplement with dry because in the past with other kittens, too much dry food and water caused diarrhea. We made another vet appointment for a week later for her second distemper injection and to check eveything else.
The hardest part of all of this was keeping Zoie separated from the other cats. Ebbie and London wondered where I was disappearing to for hours at a time. The sunroom is attached to our basement. But I was mostly concerned about Ebbie. When we'd brought her home from an acquaintance's farm, she'd been a very sick kitten. She couldn't even meow because of her cough. Although we helped her fight off the infection and she's been healthy the past eleven years, the virus which caused it remains in her system and could reappear because of stress. I hoped to prevent that from happening.
More next week about Zoie Joy, her bath and what came next. If you have any of your own cat rescue stories you'd like to share, please feel free to do so. I'd like to hear them.
© 2012 Karen Rose Smith
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16 comments:
What an adorable little kitten. I've rescued all of my cats as well and a free kitten is hardly free, but they are so worth it! Best of luck with your little one and I hope everything works out well integrating her with your other cats.
Love reading your story, Karen. Animal rescue stories always warm my heart.
In December of 2011, on a very cold Canadian winter's evening, we were having a Christmas party. As our guests were arriving, they told us about a kitten who was trying to get into their cars. Before long, it was trying to get into our house as people walked in. Being the sucker I am, I put the kitten in our garage to keep him warm for the night. We took him to the Humane Society in the morning and found out he had no tattoos, no chip, no signs to identification. I filled out a Found report with our contact info, put posters up around our neighbourhood but never heard a thing. Two weeks later, I figured that since no one had claimed him, he was ours. We had him neutered and he's been a wonderful part of our family ever since.
She's such a cute cat. The second picture is particularly great :)
Debra--Animals are like children. Lots of commitment, love and care are necessary. But they are priceless. Thanks for commenting.
Marcy--I love Christmas rescue stores. We rescued one of our older cats, Ebbie, the week before Christmas eleven years ago. She was little, sick and outside at a farm. She's my constant companion.
Mike--she moves so fast, sometimes it's hard to capture more than a blur!
What an adorable kitten! A number of years ago My Mom, who lived next door to us, came home, opened her front door to let her cat and dog out, came back out and announced "There's a cat in my house." Princess, as she came to be known (should have been Your Highness) had run in when Mother opened the door and informed Mother, the resident cat and dog that she was moving in. She was a beauatiful long-haired Siamese/calico mix with an attitude and ran their house from then on.
Zoie looks like a sweet little kitty. I know you will enjoy her.
hmcmullin--I think they'd all like to be addressed Your Highness!!! Our eleven year old grey tabby prowls around the house and relaxes like a lion. Thanks for sharing.
Janice--We had some real belly laughs and lots of smiles. She was a gift.
What a cute kitten! I love black kitties!
I gave the cat I used to have a bath several times before. I don't know if your cat hated it as much as mine did, but mine would jump on the shower doors in desperation, trying to claw her way out and would wind up using the bathroom in the tub. She hated it and was very vocal about it.
Such a sweet kitty. I am sure she will repay your care a thousand-fold.
E.B. Black--I downloaded a video on-line about giving a cat a bath. I'll write more about that next week but it wasn't as traumatic as I expected it to be. Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
Miriam--She has given us a lot of joy and laughs already. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Karen, What a sweet kitty and so are you for rescuing her. I'm glad the other 2 are adjusting to her. We had 2 older cats and a kitten and now they get along fine. Although our older female lets her know who is boss. I've still been buying your books and love them. Linda Rupert
Linda--Hi! It's good to hear from you. I just posted part 3! It's a ongoing saga. So I thought I'd keep blogging and maybe others could learn from my experience. Thanks for stopping by.
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