rescue kitties...long!

After reading about Catnip's black and white kitty I decided to tell
you all about my rescue cats. Could use a little advice too.

Knew of a "breeder"/collector who lost her home and had to move all her
cats (Scottish Folds) out in an old decaying barn in the middle of
nowhere. It was like "out of sight, out of mind"...every week or so
she would bring out a bag of cheap dry food and leave it. Coyotes,
raptors, dogs as well as below zero temps and starvation shrank the
group to 7. Finally my girlfriend and I drove out there and over the
course of 2 days caught 4 of them. Between her and I and a sympathetic
vet we got them their shots, wormed, and the grey smoke spayed. She
lives alone so took 3 and kept them on her front (enclosed) porch away
from her other critters, and I took the one that needed antibiotics and
seemed to be sick and kept her in the upstairs bedroom that used to be
my son's. Hubby wasn't thrilled, but went along as she wouldn't be
permanent (would NOT have approved of what we'd done---I only wish we'd
done it far sooner). Now, we call her Matty because she was one, solid
piece of felt. I kept her on antibiotics for 2 weeks with no change.
Difficulty breathing, blood and sludge coming out of nose, doesn't
appear to be able to smell although eats very well. The vet said it
looked to be long term infection from bad teeth that went up into her
nasal cavety. Several were removed and she was put on more antibiotics
and I put a vaporizor in her room (oh, and while she was under the vet
de-matted her!). Now, 2 weeks later we still hardly see a difference.
She is affectionate and loving and, as I said, eats well, but still
sneezes bloody snot all over the place and she breathes like she is
extreamly congested. We have adopted 2 of the cats out together, a
calico to a nice retired nurse, and the longhaired smoke shouldn't be
hard, she is so sweet. With Matty's problems no one is going to want
her. Does anyone have experience with this? What more can we do to
help her beat this? Could it be something we aren't thinking of? The
vet doesn't think it is viral and none of the other cats have anything
like it, nevertheless they are still kept seperate.

One of the cats left at the barn has been adopted too because we
brought their plight forth and the other we intend to go back and
capture. Poor thing is up there all alone now.

None of us knew how bad the situation had gotten until we started
talking together. This person obviously is not very forthcoming about
her cats and to all intents and purposes is a normal functioning member
of our little society here. She is quite angry that somebody took her
cats...she wanted to start breeding again. The boy that's up there is
one of her studs.

Ok, that's it for now.

PatM

PatM wrote:
After reading about Catnip's black and white kitty I decided to tell
you all about my rescue cats. Could use a little advice too.

I don't have any advice, so can only send heaps of purrs that Matty
improves soon. Purrs also that the stud can be caught and thankful purrs
to you for doing this for the poor kitties.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

One thing I thought of -- did the vet do a culture and sensitivity test
of the infection? I wonder if he's fighting with the right antibiotic.
Some just don't work well on certain bugs.

Rabbits get nasty bacterial respiratory infections and we've had to
fight with different antibiotics based on how the sensitivity test comes
out.

Good for you for saving the cats,

Rhonda

PatM wrote:

Now, 2 weeks later we still hardly see a difference.
She is affectionate and loving and, as I said, eats well, but still
sneezes bloody snot all over the place and she breathes like she is
extreamly congested. We have adopted 2 of the cats out together, a
calico to a nice retired nurse, and the longhaired smoke shouldn't be
hard, she is so sweet. With Matty's problems no one is going to want
her. Does anyone have experience with this? What more can we do to
help her beat this? Could it be something we aren't thinking of?

PatM wrote:

This person obviously is not very forthcoming about
her cats and to all intents and purposes is a normal functioning member
of our little society here. She is quite angry that somebody took her
cats...she wanted to start breeding again.

I think she forfeited any rights she might have had to those cats
when she allowed them to freeze or be eaten. I'm sorry, but I don't
have much sympathy for her anger about this. I think you did the
right thing in taking them. I just hope that you will be able to
snag the one remaining boy. From the sound of things - with the
minimal attention she seems to be paying to them - you shouldn't
have any trouble getting in there without being noticed!

Joyce

PatM wrote:

After reading about Catnip's black and white kitty I decided to tell
you all about my rescue cats. Could use a little advice too.

Knew of a "breeder"/collector who lost her home and had to move all her
cats (Scottish Folds) out in an old decaying barn in the middle of
nowhere. It was like "out of sight, out of mind"...every week or so
she would bring out a bag of cheap dry food and leave it. Coyotes,
raptors, dogs as well as below zero temps and starvation shrank the
group to 7. Finally my girlfriend and I drove out there and over the
course of 2 days caught 4 of them. Between her and I and a sympathetic
vet we got them their shots, wormed, and the grey smoke spayed. She
lives alone so took 3 and kept them on her front (enclosed) porch away
from her other critters, and I took the one that needed antibiotics and
seemed to be sick and kept her in the upstairs bedroom that used to be
my son's. Hubby wasn't thrilled, but went along as she wouldn't be
permanent (would NOT have approved of what we'd done---I only wish we'd
done it far sooner). Now, we call her Matty because she was one, solid
piece of felt. I kept her on antibiotics for 2 weeks with no change.
Difficulty breathing, blood and sludge coming out of nose, doesn't
appear to be able to smell although eats very well. The vet said it
looked to be long term infection from bad teeth that went up into her
nasal cavety. Several were removed and she was put on more antibiotics
and I put a vaporizor in her room (oh, and while she was under the vet
de-matted her!). Now, 2 weeks later we still hardly see a difference.
She is affectionate and loving and, as I said, eats well, but still
sneezes bloody snot all over the place and she breathes like she is
extreamly congested. We have adopted 2 of the cats out together, a
calico to a nice retired nurse, and the longhaired smoke shouldn't be
hard, she is so sweet. With Matty's problems no one is going to want
her. Does anyone have experience with this? What more can we do to
help her beat this? Could it be something we aren't thinking of? The
vet doesn't think it is viral and none of the other cats have anything
like it, nevertheless they are still kept seperate.

One of the cats left at the barn has been adopted too because we
brought their plight forth and the other we intend to go back and
capture. Poor thing is up there all alone now.

None of us knew how bad the situation had gotten until we started
talking together. This person obviously is not very forthcoming about
her cats and to all intents and purposes is a normal functioning member
of our little society here. She is quite angry that somebody took her
cats...she wanted to start breeding again. The boy that's up there is
one of her studs.

Ok, that's it for now.

PatM


I do hope something can be done to prevent the breeder from breeding
ever again! Thank you so much for taking such good care of the kitties,
PatM! I also hope Matty starts to feel better soon.
Lots and lots of purrs and best wishes,
Polonca and Soncek

Has your vet thought about the possibility of a fungal infection -
Cryptococcosis. The old decaying barn could be the source of
infection.

Here's a link that may be useful.

http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/students/...gy/crypto.html

Good luck.

--
Shirley
http://community.webshots.com/user/shirleycatuk

"PatM" wrote in message
oups.com...
After reading about Catnip's black and white kitty I decided to tell
you all about my rescue cats. Could use a little advice too.

Knew of a "breeder"/collector who lost her home and had to move all
her
cats (Scottish Folds) out in an old decaying barn in the middle of
nowhere. It was like "out of sight, out of mind"...every week or so
she would bring out a bag of cheap dry food and leave it. Coyotes,
raptors, dogs as well as below zero temps and starvation shrank the
group to 7. Finally my girlfriend and I drove out there and over
the
course of 2 days caught 4 of them. Between her and I and a
sympathetic
vet we got them their shots, wormed, and the grey smoke spayed.
She
lives alone so took 3 and kept them on her front (enclosed) porch
away
from her other critters, and I took the one that needed antibiotics
and
seemed to be sick and kept her in the upstairs bedroom that used to
be
my son's. Hubby wasn't thrilled, but went along as she wouldn't be
permanent (would NOT have approved of what we'd done---I only wish
we'd
done it far sooner). Now, we call her Matty because she was one,
solid
piece of felt. I kept her on antibiotics for 2 weeks with no
change.
Difficulty breathing, blood and sludge coming out of nose, doesn't
appear to be able to smell although eats very well. The vet said it
looked to be long term infection from bad teeth that went up into
her
nasal cavety. Several were removed and she was put on more
antibiotics
and I put a vaporizor in her room (oh, and while she was under the
vet
de-matted her!). Now, 2 weeks later we still hardly see a
difference.
She is affectionate and loving and, as I said, eats well, but still
sneezes bloody snot all over the place and she breathes like she is
extreamly congested. We have adopted 2 of the cats out together, a
calico to a nice retired nurse, and the longhaired smoke shouldn't
be
hard, she is so sweet. With Matty's problems no one is going to
want
her. Does anyone have experience with this? What more can we do to
help her beat this? Could it be something we aren't thinking of?
The
vet doesn't think it is viral and none of the other cats have
anything
like it, nevertheless they are still kept seperate.

One of the cats left at the barn has been adopted too because we
brought their plight forth and the other we intend to go back and
capture. Poor thing is up there all alone now.

None of us knew how bad the situation had gotten until we started
talking together. This person obviously is not very forthcoming
about
her cats and to all intents and purposes is a normal functioning
member
of our little society here. She is quite angry that somebody took
her
cats...she wanted to start breeding again. The boy that's up there
is
one of her studs.

Ok, that's it for now.

PatM

Many thanks for the ideas about Matty. I noted them and will bring
them up to my vet.

PatM

"PatM" wrote in message
oups.com...
Many thanks for the ideas about Matty. I noted them and will bring
them up to my vet.

PatM


This seems to give a bit more info.

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proce...A2002&PID=2548


--
Shirley
http://community.webshots.com/user/shirleycatuk

I really should get all my info together before I hit the reply
button......another link and probably the best. :-)

http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/reynolds/

Purrs for Matty to make a complete recovery

--
Shirley
http://community.webshots.com/user/shirleycatuk

I also hope she is prevented from collecting/breeding cats again. You did
and are doing a wonderful thing. Purrs, purrs and more purrs for Matty.
--
Charleen
Mr. Pumpkin
Aggie Marble
Victor Velcro

"PatM" wrote in message
oups.com...
After reading about Catnip's black and white kitty I decided to tell
you all about my rescue cats. Could use a little advice too.

Knew of a "breeder"/collector who lost her home and had to move all her
cats (Scottish Folds) out in an old decaying barn in the middle of
nowhere. It was like "out of sight, out of mind"...every week or so
she would bring out a bag of cheap dry food and leave it. Coyotes,
raptors, dogs as well as below zero temps and starvation shrank the
group to 7. Finally my girlfriend and I drove out there and over the
course of 2 days caught 4 of them. Between her and I and a sympathetic
vet we got them their shots, wormed, and the grey smoke spayed. She
lives alone so took 3 and kept them on her front (enclosed) porch away
from her other critters, and I took the one that needed antibiotics and
seemed to be sick and kept her in the upstairs bedroom that used to be
my son's. Hubby wasn't thrilled, but went along as she wouldn't be
permanent (would NOT have approved of what we'd done---I only wish we'd
done it far sooner). Now, we call her Matty because she was one, solid
piece of felt. I kept her on antibiotics for 2 weeks with no change.
Difficulty breathing, blood and sludge coming out of nose, doesn't
appear to be able to smell although eats very well. The vet said it
looked to be long term infection from bad teeth that went up into her
nasal cavety. Several were removed and she was put on more antibiotics
and I put a vaporizor in her room (oh, and while she was under the vet
de-matted her!). Now, 2 weeks later we still hardly see a difference.
She is affectionate and loving and, as I said, eats well, but still
sneezes bloody snot all over the place and she breathes like she is
extreamly congested. We have adopted 2 of the cats out together, a
calico to a nice retired nurse, and the longhaired smoke shouldn't be
hard, she is so sweet. With Matty's problems no one is going to want
her. Does anyone have experience with this? What more can we do to
help her beat this? Could it be something we aren't thinking of? The
vet doesn't think it is viral and none of the other cats have anything
like it, nevertheless they are still kept seperate.

One of the cats left at the barn has been adopted too because we
brought their plight forth and the other we intend to go back and
capture. Poor thing is up there all alone now.

None of us knew how bad the situation had gotten until we started
talking together. This person obviously is not very forthcoming about
her cats and to all intents and purposes is a normal functioning member
of our little society here. She is quite angry that somebody took her
cats...she wanted to start breeding again. The boy that's up there is
one of her studs.

Ok, that's it for now.

PatM