Purrs for Sammy Please!

On Jul 26, 6:36 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
"Smokie Darling (Annie)" wrote in

CatNipped,

It was not my intent to bring you tears, I'm sure you've had enough of
those.

Just know that while sometimes people disagree, it doesn't mean they
don't care. Just because someone doesn't always post, it doesn't mean
they don't read and think of everyone with fondness (well, most
everyone anyway).

sarcasm mode on
Well of *course* it's all your fault. Whose else would it be? HIS?
sarcasm mode off

Okay, on a more serious note, it is human nature to seek a "scapegoat"
for whatever problem has arisen.
We blame our politicians (all of 'em) for being crooks, yet still we
re-elect them.
We blame whatever higher power we believe in for flooding our homes,
yet we still beg (Him/Her/It) for things we couldn't or shouldn't
have.
We rail against losing a beloved furry companion, we promise we will
never get another, and then we do (just setting up that cycle all over
again).
Everyone needs someone to "blame", whether the blame belongs there or
not. It canNOT be *my* fault after all (lol). I'm as bad as the next
person about this (or I over do it, and I take all the blame for
something I had no control over).

In our own ways, we all care. Sometimes more than anyone knows.

Smokie Darling (Annie)

Annie, how did you get so wise in your few short years?!! I know dealing
with FMS takes a lot of courage and you certainly have that (can I borrow
some??)!

Hugs,

CatNipped

CatNipped,

Of course you can. Take whatever you need. You may keep it if you
like. I'll get more (lol), at least one hopes I will.

Thank you for the compliment, but I'm not all that young (let's say 29
with 15 years of experience). Being the youngest of 6, watching my
mom and the oldest (she wasn't really my sister, she was my cousin,
but she lived with us until I was 9) "sister/cousin" each die of
horrible diseases, I learned the value of others' insight, and have
taken alot from most people here.

SD (Annie)

CatNipped wrote:
I'm so sick about this - I can't stop kicking myself, I should have caught
this *SO* much sooner!

I saw that Sammy had thrown up a prodigious amount in the garage when I woke
up this morning. As has been said in other posts, Sammy has been living
under my bed for almost 5 weeks now. When I tried getting her out from
under the bed (by moving it!!) I saw that not only had she thrown up in a
number of other spots, but there was liquid feces spotted about on the
carpet. I thought it might be a combination of impacted anal glands (which
she's had once before) and hairballs since she has been shedding so much
lately.

We just got back from the vet and it's not impacted anal glands, she has
diarrhea. Her coat is dull and hair is just falling off in clumps, she had
lost .5* pounds from only 15 days ago (the last time she saw the vet), she's
a bit dehydrated, and she is running a temperature of 102.4F! The vet took
a fecal sample (and shaved her butt to remove all the feces) and didn't see
anything. She said all of those symptoms could be caused by stress.

I can't believe that I did not catch this sooner!

*This is *WAY* too much weight for a cat to lose in such a short time.

Please send some purrs Sammy's way, she needs them with such a horrible,
neglectful mommy!

Purrs on the way for the "Samazon" to chill soon (and to forgive poor
worried Meowmie!)

Sam, closely supervised by Mistletoe

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"jofirey" wrote in message
...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...

OK, I'm at my desk and I'm BAWLING! Thank you, Annie, thank you so much
for your kind words and support - I was beginning to feel *REALLY*
lonely out here all by myself. [Ben just tried calling me on my cell,
but I didn't answer - right now I just don't know if I can forgive him
for the hurtful things he said last night (he has this habit of
*refusing* to make any decisions and every single time something has to
be decided I have to do it - that way he can sit back later and blame me
for anything that goes wrong since it was all *my* decision).]


Argh. Charlie does that and it makes me crazy. Though he doesn't
actually blame me later. Just makes me feel guilty in advance. He is at
his worst when the dogs or cats are concerned.

Jo

Gosh, I really thought Ben was alone in doing this - I thought most men
*liked and insisted* on making the decisions. Just goes to show we're not
as "special" as we'd like to think! ;



The men who like and insist on making the decisions don't marry women they
can guilt into doing it for them.

Jo

jofirey wrote:

"CatNipped" wrote in message

Gosh, I really thought Ben was alone in doing this - I thought most men
*liked and insisted* on making the decisions. Just goes to show we're not
as "special" as we'd like to think! ;

The men who like and insist on making the decisions don't marry women they
can guilt into doing it for them.

And having a husband who insists on making all the decisions can't be
any picnic, either. What's wrong with *mutual* decisions??

Joyce

"CatNipped" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Jul 26, 12:00 pm, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"CatNipped" wrote in message

...





I'm so sick about this - I can't stop kicking myself, I should have
caught
this *SO* much sooner!

I saw that Sammy had thrown up a prodigious amount in the garage when I
woke up this morning. As has been said in other posts, Sammy has been
living under my bed for almost 5 weeks now. When I tried getting her
out
from under the bed (by moving it!!) I saw that not only had she thrown
up
in a number of other spots, but there was liquid feces spotted about on
the carpet. I thought it might be a combination of impacted anal
glands
(which she's had once before) and hairballs since she has been shedding
so
much lately.

We just got back from the vet and it's not impacted anal glands, she
has
diarrhea. Her coat is dull and hair is just falling off in clumps, she
had lost .5* pounds from only 15 days ago (the last time she saw the
vet),
she's a bit dehydrated, and she is running a temperature of 102.4F!
The
vet took a fecal sample (and shaved her butt to remove all the feces)
and
didn't see anything. She said all of those symptoms could be caused by
stress.

I can't believe that I did not catch this sooner!

*This is *WAY* too much weight for a cat to lose in such a short time.

Please send some purrs Sammy's way, she needs them with such a
horrible,
neglectful mommy!

Purrs coming up for Sammy. Maybe she caught something from the babies or
Tayla. Shelters are full of disease. I adopted a dog once from a
shelter,
and didn't she just go down with kennel cough which would not resolve,
nasal
problems, enlarged lymph glands for months, you name it, she had it 2-3
weeks after I got her.
This was the first time I said to my vet "why don't I just pay my salary
check into your account?"
Having said this, I would like to think you will give Tayla a chance for
much longer. I wonder if you have rushed things a bit perhaps.
I tend to think Sammy hiding was because she was ill, not because of
Tayla.

Tweed- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Five weeks is too long for it to be something caught from the new
adoptees, three weeks is about the longest incubation for any
transmissable diseases. The vet thinks it is stress induced and
agrees the best option is to re-home Tayla (we talked about this for
almost an hour last night).

I don't know how to make people here understand this - this is not the
"normal" interplay of cat introduction. I've introduced cats lots of
times in my 55 years - there is most always some posturing, hissing,
even swatting. But Tayla is going beyond this. The aggression she
shows is *relentless* - she does't even stop to rest, she goes from
one cat to the next and chases them down, growling and trying to
bite.

The adult cats can defend themselves (but in Sammy's case make herself
ill with stress), but the kittens can't. "Normal" cat behavior is to
stop aggression when an opponent "gives". The kittens will instantly
fall over on their sides and go limp as soon as an adult cat hisses at
them. They did this the first two days of being alone with my
resident three when one of the adults would hiss or give them a no-
claw swat on top of the head - the adult would then just walk away
until the next time a kitten tried to bite her tail. After two days
they don't even hiss at the kittens anymore, they just seem very
amused by the antics (in fact Sammy allows them to snuggle with her
under my bed - I think they picked the biggest cat to make friends
with as a protector against Tayla, not knowing what a wuss Sammy is).

However, Tayla *DOES* *NOT* *STOP* - she continues to bite and claw
and growl at the kittens even after they fall over and go limp. Ben
or I have to physically intervene and she'll walk away for a second
and then turn around and start the attack again. I don't care *what*
anybody here says, that is *not* normal cat behavior! This is *not*
just establishing herself in any pecking order since kittens are
*automatically* on the bottom of *ANY* pecking order and all adult
cats *know* this!

Tayla had three weeks of complete isolation from everyone, then we
tried putting the kittens in with her, but had to take them away
because of the above-described behavior. At that time we put the
kittens in with the other cats and everything went well.

Tayla then had one week of having a screen between her and the
resident cats and she sat at the screen and cried.

She then had one week of us allowing her out under supervision and as
soon as she ran around and emptied everyone's dishes she would start
in on the attacks. At first it was as I described in other posts -
about normal posturing and pecking order, but instead of things
getting better with time, they go worse. As soon as she started
feeling more confident being out she stepped up her aggressions and,
when the adult cats hid beyond her reach (and turned an fought when
they were cornered), she would start taking her aggression out on the
kittens.

Five weeks of this is all any of us (especially Sammy) can take. It's
easy to sit a thousand miles away and kibbitz about what I should or
shouldn't do - it's another to have to live in this stress-filled
environment!

I don't know what's so difficult to understand about the concept that
some cats are just meant to be "only cats" - it's an accepted and well
understood concept for most people. Not every cat is meant to be part
of a clowder, just like humans have their own personalities, likes and
dislikes, and some mental or emotional abnormalities, so do cats!


Blimey, go easy. I guess I hit a nerve. Sorry. I feel well slapped when I
was hoping to help. I will shut up now.

Tweed

On Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:29:27 -0700, CatNipped
wrote:

this is all any of us (especially Sammy) can take. It's
easy to sit a thousand miles away and kibbitz about what I should or
shouldn't do - it's another to have to live in this stress-filled
environment!

Throughout this thread I've been sort of reminded of Grandma, who
when doubted would quote some old-time comedian she listened to on the
radio (long-ago pre-TV days). Apparently he would counter with "Vas
you dere, Sharley?" Only *you* are *there*, Lori, to know the
situation intimately. This is my tenth year in RPCA and I think I
"know" you fairly well. I trust your judgment. Many purrs are sent
for Sammy, you and Ben, Tayla - hoping all goes well. You've had more
than enough heartbreak.

Jeanne
Jeanne

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Jul 26, 12:00 pm, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"CatNipped" wrote in message

...





I'm so sick about this - I can't stop kicking myself, I should have
caught
this *SO* much sooner!

I saw that Sammy had thrown up a prodigious amount in the garage when
I
woke up this morning. As has been said in other posts, Sammy has been
living under my bed for almost 5 weeks now. When I tried getting her
out
from under the bed (by moving it!!) I saw that not only had she thrown
up
in a number of other spots, but there was liquid feces spotted about
on
the carpet. I thought it might be a combination of impacted anal
glands
(which she's had once before) and hairballs since she has been
shedding so
much lately.

We just got back from the vet and it's not impacted anal glands, she
has
diarrhea. Her coat is dull and hair is just falling off in clumps,
she
had lost .5* pounds from only 15 days ago (the last time she saw the
vet),
she's a bit dehydrated, and she is running a temperature of 102.4F!
The
vet took a fecal sample (and shaved her butt to remove all the feces)
and
didn't see anything. She said all of those symptoms could be caused
by
stress.

I can't believe that I did not catch this sooner!

*This is *WAY* too much weight for a cat to lose in such a short time.

Please send some purrs Sammy's way, she needs them with such a
horrible,
neglectful mommy!

Purrs coming up for Sammy. Maybe she caught something from the babies
or
Tayla. Shelters are full of disease. I adopted a dog once from a
shelter,
and didn't she just go down with kennel cough which would not resolve,
nasal
problems, enlarged lymph glands for months, you name it, she had it 2-3
weeks after I got her.
This was the first time I said to my vet "why don't I just pay my salary
check into your account?"
Having said this, I would like to think you will give Tayla a chance for
much longer. I wonder if you have rushed things a bit perhaps.
I tend to think Sammy hiding was because she was ill, not because of
Tayla.

Tweed- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Five weeks is too long for it to be something caught from the new
adoptees, three weeks is about the longest incubation for any
transmissable diseases. The vet thinks it is stress induced and
agrees the best option is to re-home Tayla (we talked about this for
almost an hour last night).

I don't know how to make people here understand this - this is not the
"normal" interplay of cat introduction. I've introduced cats lots of
times in my 55 years - there is most always some posturing, hissing,
even swatting. But Tayla is going beyond this. The aggression she
shows is *relentless* - she does't even stop to rest, she goes from
one cat to the next and chases them down, growling and trying to
bite.

The adult cats can defend themselves (but in Sammy's case make herself
ill with stress), but the kittens can't. "Normal" cat behavior is to
stop aggression when an opponent "gives". The kittens will instantly
fall over on their sides and go limp as soon as an adult cat hisses at
them. They did this the first two days of being alone with my
resident three when one of the adults would hiss or give them a no-
claw swat on top of the head - the adult would then just walk away
until the next time a kitten tried to bite her tail. After two days
they don't even hiss at the kittens anymore, they just seem very
amused by the antics (in fact Sammy allows them to snuggle with her
under my bed - I think they picked the biggest cat to make friends
with as a protector against Tayla, not knowing what a wuss Sammy is).

However, Tayla *DOES* *NOT* *STOP* - she continues to bite and claw
and growl at the kittens even after they fall over and go limp. Ben
or I have to physically intervene and she'll walk away for a second
and then turn around and start the attack again. I don't care *what*
anybody here says, that is *not* normal cat behavior! This is *not*
just establishing herself in any pecking order since kittens are
*automatically* on the bottom of *ANY* pecking order and all adult
cats *know* this!

Tayla had three weeks of complete isolation from everyone, then we
tried putting the kittens in with her, but had to take them away
because of the above-described behavior. At that time we put the
kittens in with the other cats and everything went well.

Tayla then had one week of having a screen between her and the
resident cats and she sat at the screen and cried.

She then had one week of us allowing her out under supervision and as
soon as she ran around and emptied everyone's dishes she would start
in on the attacks. At first it was as I described in other posts -
about normal posturing and pecking order, but instead of things
getting better with time, they go worse. As soon as she started
feeling more confident being out she stepped up her aggressions and,
when the adult cats hid beyond her reach (and turned an fought when
they were cornered), she would start taking her aggression out on the
kittens.

Five weeks of this is all any of us (especially Sammy) can take. It's
easy to sit a thousand miles away and kibbitz about what I should or
shouldn't do - it's another to have to live in this stress-filled
environment!

I don't know what's so difficult to understand about the concept that
some cats are just meant to be "only cats" - it's an accepted and well
understood concept for most people. Not every cat is meant to be part
of a clowder, just like humans have their own personalities, likes and
dislikes, and some mental or emotional abnormalities, so do cats!


Blimey, go easy. I guess I hit a nerve. Sorry. I feel well slapped when
I was hoping to help. I will shut up now.

Tweed

I'm so sorry Tweed, I didn't mean for you to feel "well slapped" - I truly
apologize. I'm just feeling so bad over this whole situation - this is
*NOT* the outcome we were hoping for and I feel like a failure, a louse, a
traitor to *ALL* my cats. What I said to you was a knee-jerk reaction after
so many people had told me what I'd already felt - I failed... I failed
miserably.

Again, please accept my apologies - I had no right to "go off" on you like
that.

Hugs,

CatNipped

On Jul 28, 3:46 am, (JBHajos) wrote:
On Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:29:27 -0700, CatNipped
wrote:

this is all any of us (especially Sammy) can take. It's
easy to sit a thousand miles away and kibbitz about what I should or
shouldn't do - it's another to have to live in this stress-filled
environment!

Throughout this thread I've been sort of reminded of Grandma, who
when doubted would quote some old-time comedian she listened to on the
radio (long-ago pre-TV days). Apparently he would counter with "Vas
you dere, Sharley?" Only *you* are *there*, Lori, to know the
situation intimately.
snipped
Jeanne

LOL, that is a good one! I think I should start asking myself "Vas you
Dere, Sherry?"
before I lay a finger on the keys.

Sherry
Sherry

"CatNipped" wrote in
:


I feel like a
failure, a louse, a traitor to *ALL* my cats. What I said to you was
a knee-jerk reaction after so many people had told me what I'd already
felt - I failed... I failed miserably.



I think you need to give yourself a break. It doesn't sound like anyone
could fare better.

Andy

"JBHajos" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:29:27 -0700, CatNipped
wrote:

this is all any of us (especially Sammy) can take. It's
easy to sit a thousand miles away and kibbitz about what I should or
shouldn't do - it's another to have to live in this stress-filled
environment!

Throughout this thread I've been sort of reminded of Grandma, who
when doubted would quote some old-time comedian she listened to on the
radio (long-ago pre-TV days). Apparently he would counter with "Vas
you dere, Sharley?" Only *you* are *there*, Lori, to know the
situation intimately. This is my tenth year in RPCA and I think I
"know" you fairly well. I trust your judgment. Many purrs are sent
for Sammy, you and Ben, Tayla - hoping all goes well. You've had more
than enough heartbreak.

Jeanne
Jeanne

Thank you, Jeanne. You're right, I am the one "there" and ultimately I had
to take into consideration the needs of the many over the needs of the one
(ohmygawd, I sound like a Vulcan - anyone remember that quote?).

Anyway, not to make light of the situation, but "the proof is in the
pudding". Tayla is up for re-adoption into a one-cat-only home (the woman
at the rescue said that there are always some people who can't afford the
cost or the work of more than one pet). I kept stressing that Tayla was a
*VERY* lovable and well-behaved cat around humans, and that the *ONLY*
reason she was being returned was her inability to get along with other
cats, and that she would be a *PREFECT* pet for someone who only wanted one
pet. They are pretty good there about trying to
place their cats in permanent homes (they do a *really* extensive interview
and follow-ups) so I think they will note this on her papers (some other
cats there have similar notations - there were about three "one cat only
home needed" signs - one *LESS* than were there when we adopted Tayla, so at
least one "only cat" cat got adopted).

I did find out when we were there that Tayla was brought back once before,
so I suspect there may have been similar problems and whoever brought her
back just didn't want to say why in case she couldn't get adopted again -
way wrong decision! Tayla may even be able to accept cat companionship
somewhere down the line, but I think she needs to be *well* established in a
one cat household for a good while first if not forever.

It's been a day and a half since Tayla's return and already things have
gotten *MUCH* better. As I noted in Sammy's update, she's out from under
the bed and has even ventured upstairs on her own. Jessie is starting to
play with the boyz - for an 8-year-old she is *SO* playful still (typical
tortie! ;). Demi is out from behind her "hiding chair" and is back in her
favorite sunning spots. And da boyz are here, there, and *EVERYWHERE* (I
got a snippet of video of them playing that I'm fixing to upload). Da boyz
are snuggling up with Sammy every time they want to take a nap, and she
looks up at me with a disgusted look on her face when they do, but she
doesn't get up and move and I've even caught her giving them a sneak lick
when she thought I wasn't looking.

Hugs,

CatNipped