A heartbreaking loss

Yesterday morning I noticed that River's left eye was a cloudy reddish color and her pupil was at pinpoint dilation whereas her right eye was open wide. After a frantic call to the Humane Society, I took her down to visit the vet. By the time I got there, her eye was looking a bit better. The vet diagnosed her with an inner eye infection and sent me home with eye drops for her. They also administered a vaccine she was due for. Back home she went.

She seemed quite subdued in the afternoon, but I've had cats respond to vaccines with sleepiness before. However, by the evening she was breathing rapidly. I called the Cat Program Manager and spoke to her. She said that several kittens had responded unusually to a vaccine, but usually perked up after 12 hours or so. I put on the humidifier for River and hung out with her for a while.

By 9:30, her respiration was very labored (72-84 breaths per minute). I phoned Juli again, and she said she would call the vet for more advice. I was extremely nervous; the last time I had seen this kind of respiration was when Tag died. Juli finally got back to me and said the vet said hang tight, and if she was the same or worse in the morning to bring her in.

When I awoke at 6am, she was gone.

RIP River Serenity. For your short life you were loved and cherished. Feb 18th, 2013 - May 7th, 2013.

My Geek Fan and Foster Worlds Collide

Yesterday I had the coolest experience. Tricia Helfer and Katee Sackoff were supposed to show up at Blazing Bagels in the morning before leaving on the Tulip Ride (www.tulipride.org). Being a HUGE Battlestar Galactica fan, I couldn't not go. I had no IDEA what the Tulip Ride even was. So Kya and I headed over then after my morning workout. Tricia Helfer was already there, so I screwed up my courage to let her know how much I loved her character in BSG, and I asked what the ride was for. Turns out it is benefiting the Red Cross and the Humane Society!!! I shared that I foster for the Humane Society in Seattle, and Tricia shared that she has 11 cats! So I got to show her a picture of River, and she showed me her baby, Maxie, who only has three legs. What an incredible experience. Tricia Helfer is one classy lady!

Tricia Helfer as Six from BSG

 


Tricia Helfer & I at Blazing Bagels



River looking relaxed

And then there was one...

This week has been a week of saying goodbye. On Monday I took the kittens and Serenity in to the Humane Society to get fixed. The plan was to pick up Grey and Kaylee afterwards so that they could be picked up from my house by their new humans. However, it turned out that River's heart murmur meant she needs a special surgery which couldn't be performed for another three weeks. Juli asked if I could take her home again until Friday while she worked on finding another foster home.

I also spent a few minutes with Serenity in her new digs in Colony Room 1. She seemed very skittish, but once I got her out from under the couch, she snuggled and demanded pets. I really hope someone takes the time to get to know her. She is such a petite girl, but she will make someone a good companion.

So I brought home three kittens on Monday evening. Kaylee was ready to play within a couple of hours of getting home, but Grey was more than a little bit tuckered out. He spent most of the evening crashed out on my lap.

I checked online yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, and Zoe and Inara had already been snapped up. Long lives little ones!

So today both Kaylee and Grey's humans came to pick them up. It was hard saying goodbye, but made MUCH easier seeing first-hand just how much their owners already love and cherish them. Plus - I got promises of occasional pictures and updates.

Now little River is sleeping on the bed on my desk. She is not happy being left alone, but she seems fine if I'm in here with her. I really hope that her health issues do not become a challenge to adopting her out. If anyone knows of someone wanting a sweet, darling little kitten, please have them get in touch with me!

So close to surgery weights!

So my brood is growing so fast now. I took them in last weekend to get checked out, and they are all doing really well. Some minor eye gunk which they are getting drops for, but the vet staff were ooing and aaahing over them. They are all nearly at 2 pounds, so I am expecting to bring them in sometime in the next week. [sniff, sniff].

All of them are completely weaned and litter trained - thank goodness. It is never my favorite part of the job to clean up puddles in my office. They are also very active, running and leaping all over my office. As much as I adore them, the office is completely unusable as an office right now. It's nearly impossible to hold a professional conversation while having your leg climbed or a kitten walks across your phone set. And trying to write or type or sort papers? Forget it! So the kittens are making it just a little bit harder to run my business - hopefully I will get back into a work routine soon.

Serenity and her brood

Gray lazing in amongst the girls

You can see their eyes are going green

Zoe investigates the camera (you can see the blue in her ear)

Handsome boy!

River looking pretty

Connection made

One of the fun parts of my job as a foster parent is introducing the kittens to people interested in adopting. It was wonderful to have my daughter's friend Madison and her family stop by on Saturday. Madison's grandma has been following the blog, and was enchanted with all five kittens. She met all five, and - as I would have predicted - Kaylee was one of the first ones to introduce herself. Within a very short time, she was firmly ensconced in in a lap, purring away. Madison's sister sat in the big armchair, and River made herself comfortable as well. Zoe and Inara alternated between quick cuddles and running around playing. Gray was kind of laid back and calm, watching the group of admirers.

The kittens continue to grow and change. I'm beginning to be able to tell them apart a bit. River has the softest, fluffiest fur of the four girls, and Zoe has the shortest hair. Kaylee is almost always the first to run to me, and Inara is still the most shy. But they all love getting snuggles. When I sit down in the big armchair, it's rare to have more than couple of minutes go by before I have 2-3 of them perched around me inviting me to play.

Serenity continues to be pretty laid back. Occasionally she will want some attention, but she often is content to just sit nearby as the kittens climb and play. I do often find her snuggled up with them, so I think she continues to comfort nurse them occasionally.

They are mostly using the litter box now. I do have to clean up accidents outside of the litter box, but it is getting less and less often.

Uber cuteness

The babies are loving the armchair in the office. I often go in to find the five of them all curled up together. It looks like Serenity is still offering comfort nursing, at least.

 

Serenity recovers and kittens get cuter

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted last! Serenity has improved dramatically since her surgery.

Last Sunday I reunited Serenity and the kittens. Within a few minutes of returning her to the room, the kittens were snuggled up and latched on to her. She seemed pretty relaxed, and spent most of her time in the nest with them. She really disliked getting her meds, but they seemed to help in her recovery. Amazingly, she has been eating up a STORM!! I have been feeding her as often as her bowl is empty, and it is not uncommon for her to eat 2 or 3 cans of cat food each day! She had a couple of bouts of diarrhea, but seems to have gotten over that as well. There have also been a couple of times where she has hissed at me when I come in, but seems to get over whatever she is reacting to pretty quickly.

The kittens are still growing well. They are all over a pound now, and love to scamper around the room chasing each other. Inara, our littlest, is the most timid, but she still gets into the playfighting. Zoe has started to climb, but seems to not quite know how to get back down from the stool or the chair once she gets up.

Pictures for your enjoyment!