Months ago I started working on a year end wrap up for 2023. Since we’re almost halfway through May I think maybe I should give up just move on. So here’s a quick wrap up of the last few months!
We left off with Lola and Rex.
Cali and Riley continued to struggle with issues, especially Cali. Her sneezing continued and even got worse for a while. She was on meds when they were transferred to another foster home and she improved immensely. I don’t know if it was the move, the meds, or her own immune system finally kicking in but she was quickly symptom free and both were adopted soon after.
Toward the end of February I got these two beans:
This is Castro (seven month old tux) and Bear (six month old grey). They are sweet and affectionate. They are also crazy active and curious. Castro is a bit bitey. They’ve been a lot of fun but they also try my patience. I’d feel bad about that but it’s clear they also try Blue’s patience. She tolerates them, but she’s also stepped in a few times with some much needed discipline.
They were returned to TCR because Bear had some soft stool issues. The adopter made it sound much worse than it ever was with me, though it certainly was persistent! He was on special food but it didn’t seem to help. Finally, we did a PCR fecal test. Here’s what came back:
He is positive for Feline Coronavirus and Clostridium perfringens, both common causes of diarrhea in kittens. The Coronavirus just has to run its course, not much we can do but provide supportive care. C perfringes is often found on these diarrhea panels, many normal/healthy cats have C perfringes in their guts, however they measured a pretty high amount in Bears so this could be the current cause for his diarrhea. He was already given Metro, this is the best antibiotic for C perfringens. I also mentioned to Heather trying a high fiber food – the Hills R/D formula is pretty good.
We put him on the new food. Again, not completely sure it helped but he did improve, so something — maybe just the meds — did. After two weeks of pretty normal stool, he — and Castro — were posted on the website. We had a long, careful debate about whether to list them as bonded or not. I went back and forth. Such a hard decision! But it boiled down to I don’t think Castro cared at all and I think/hope that Bear will be ok with any companion.