Hi everyone, sorry I've been rather absent lately. I've got very busy involved with a small local stray/feral cat rescue. We are really struggling for funds, and had to turn strays away at the mo - vet bills are mounting for previous months....
Anyhow, the last one in was a poor little soul - spotted by someone working on the uni campus 12 says ago (a large greenfield site just out of the town). She was hiding out at the back of a fan unit of one of the buildings - so we went out to trap her and she was so weak she couldn't even run away. Straight for vet check and now safe in my attic room.
Now in my spare room, keeping warm, secure and fed. Vet prognosis not good - she weighed 1.9kg - now 2.1, was soooo bony her skin was loose enough to fit another cat inside - muscle wastage so bad she has difficulty with her back legs - she will stand and walk, but if she tries to move suddenly they go.. And of course lots of fleas. She has mammarian cysts and possible lumps, pus a couple of broken teeth. And worse of all blood tests shows her to be in end-stage CRF.
She is obv too weak/underwieght anyhow to be able to take anaethesia for a dental, and what point spending money we dont have scanning the lumps if surgey cant be an option anyhow. Very dehydrated - she wouldnt stop drinking when we first got her back from the vet. Or eating
She had a flea treatment, but her coat was so filthy and matted (semi-long hair) and full of grease, muck from garbage, and smelly we had to bath her on the 3rd day. And gently work at the matts a little each day cos she really hates that.
But she's a little fighter - eats & eats and only vomited twice. Drinking has now normalised and she had a subq a week ago which has perker her up. She seems quite content to rest and not be in the wet & cold any longer - we figure from the state of her she was living rough for weeks/months. She is sooo friendly she must have had a home at some point - tried all the usual to locate owner but nothing. Possible of course she was dumped due to ill health - unf all too common as we know. We do know that had she not been spotted, she would have died of starvation by now as she was too weak to scavenge any more.
She was so hungry we think she was eating vegetation - a week in she passed a clump of what looked like straw, leaf and bark/small bits of wood, then a few smaller bits later that day. And then a 2" piece of cord. This was after having a normal (if dryish) poo every day up to that.
Dead scary tho' - vet could not feel any other blockages in there however, and it has now stopped. I can only think it was lodged somewhere and the other food passed by which was what resulted in the normal poos.
So now we have to monitor and decide how long the quality of life is good enough....
Up til this morning our relationship was, understandably, solely based on 'I'll give you love if you feed me' - always going to her bowl after a cursory couple of headrubs - once eaten she would ignore me. But today I went back in after her 2nd feed (doing 6 small feeds/day) to take some pics, and she was lying on the futon. And wanted headrubs, and strokes and purred loads and even gave me a nose-bump. And didnt then go to her bowl, but carried on wanting a fuss for the next 15mins (would have been longer I reckon but I had to go out!).
Anyhow, here are some pics...
when we first got her to the vet
After the bath
And this morning
