She's Doing Well

Sassy spent the night on the screened back porch.  After she came out of her sedation, I felt mean leaving her trapped in the pet taxi.  I opened the door for her, but wanting no part of the house, she went immediately to the back door.  I let her out onto the porch then gave her some food.  What she really wanted was to be set free.  My gut told me that she'd be ok, but I guess my recent losses and fear made me pause.  I knew that if I let her outside, and something DID happen to her, I'd never forgive myself.  I told myself that she's got food, water, and a clean litter box on that porch.  While being enclosed may not be what she really wants, it will not hurt her to spend one night on the back porch. 

I checked on her several times during the night.  I could tell she wanted outside, but she wasn't making a big fuss.  She must have settled in sometime during the night, because when I woke this morning, I glanced out the window.  She was curled up on one of the cat trees, fast asleep.  She looked so peaceful and relaxed I could almost believe she was an indoor pet.  Since she seemed to be settled, I rolled over and went back to sleep (this has been an exhausting couple of months).  When Dave got home, we released her, and she's fine.  She didn't leave the yard in anger or hiss at me.  She went back to being her normal self.  

Picture taken of Sassy during the wee hours of the morning. She's so mistreated...

I hope this isn't just wishful thinking on my part, but I have a pretty good feeling that the cat situation is finally going to calm down.  Dr House gave Sassy a large dose of Advantage Multi to kill the skin mites, and sent home an equally large dose for me to give her in two weeks.  I also found out that she's a 10+ pound cat! If she's healthy otherwise, and she appears to be, I hope to have plenty more years with her.

Update!

We're home!  As we suspected, Dr House had to sedate Sassy in order to examine her skin.  We left her with him, then dropped by the radio station for Dave to record and input the latest information on weather-induced school closings and postponements.  By the time he'd finished, we got the call to come get Sassy.  She's still heavily sedated, so we're leaving her in the pet taxi which we'll leave in the extra bedroom.  She'll be warm and safe for the night.  Skin scrapings revealed she has sarcoptic mange.  This condition is very itchy, but very treatable.  If she's healthy otherwise, she'll be fine in 3-4 weeks.  Thank you for all your support and prayers.  I appreciate every single one of them.

Half The Battle

Sassy is caught.  I used a piece of lunch meat and a little deceit to get her into the pet taxi.  She's now on the screened porch awaiting her appointment.  I hope and pray nothing is seriously wrong with her.  I'm hoping all she needs is another round of ringworm meds to be fine.  Please keep praying.

Tomorrow's Challange

Dr House was completely booked today, so we had to make Sassy's appointment for tomorrow.  I decided to give my plan a trial run today.  I set the pet taxi, door opened, near the feeding area.  I tore off a small piece of lunch meat and gave it to her.  On the third tear, I threw the piece of lunch meat into the pet taxi.  She went in after it!  This gives me hope.  If she does this tomorrow, all I have to do is close the door, and she'll be ready for the vet.  Wish us luck, and keep us in your prayers.  I really want her to be ok.

More Worries

Shortly before Thanksgiving of last year, we noticed an itchy skin problem on Sassy, one of our more skittish  ferals.  Because she is still pretty wild, I knew getting her in to see the vet would be difficult and expensive.  As I watched her, I made a home diagnosis, based on a past experience with Monroe.  He had developed an itch, and had begun to lose hair on areas of his face.  Since he's friendly and cooperative, we were able to take him to the vet for a proper diagnosis.  It was ringworm, which we successfully treated with liquid oral medication, mixed by our local apothecary. The patches on Sassy's skin looked, to me, exactly like the ones on Monroe.  I called Dr House, and explained what was going on with Sassy, and let him know she was wild. Knowing that I could never give her liquid medicine, I asked if that same medicine was available in pill form (Sassy will not let me hold her or pet her, but she will take a piece of lunch meat from my hand). Dr House looked into it, and found that the pill form is very expensive, so he had the apothecary make some capsules for us.  I've been giving her these capsules, wrapped in lunch meat, for the past 30 days or so.  She had stopped scratching her face, reducing the amount of crusty skin areas on her face.  I was delighted, thinking that I'd made the correct diagnosis, and she was going to feel better.  This past week, I noticed she was scratching again, and by Saturday, she had another scab on her face.  Her medicine is gone, and we don't want to buy more unless we're sure the problem is, indeed, ringworm.  That means a vet visit.
So tomorrow, we're going to call Dr House's office to see if he has time to deal with a completely uncooperative feral cat.  THEN, we have to see if we can catch her.  He's probably going to have to sedate her to examine her which is an added expense, and a health concern for a cat her age.  I really need your prayers.  Because of all the recent losses among my feral cats, I'm very nervous and scared.  I hope and pray that this is just a case of ringworm, as I originally suspected, or something equally treatable.  I don't want to lose another cat.  She may not be very cuddly and friendly, but she's part of my family just as much as the friendly ones.  I love her very much.

Corrections

While looking through the pet forums at davesgarden.com, I found several feral cat  threads I'd started long ago. I remember going to these fellow members for advice and encouragement when I first started TNR for the ferals. I was able to used the dates of these threads to correct the dates and some of the information below.

Still With Us

The last couple of weeks have been very difficult for me.  I've been trying to accept a new normal and move on, while still in a state of grief, even denial.  I've developed some habits and routines during my years of working with feral cats that I'll probably never break.  Keeping with these routines while fewer cats greet me is very hard.  It seems to be a constant reminder of all I've lost.  I've decided to create this picture post, not only to reintroduce my feral cats to my readers, but also to remind myself of what I still have.  I will continue to grieve each cat and kitten I've lost, but for just one moment, I'd like to focus on the seven remaining ferals in my life.

Scruffy was born in 2004, the offspring of Sophie.  I think he's one of the most beautiful cats I've ever seen.

Monroe, born in 2004, was the offspring of Ms Grey and litter mate to Tigra and Scary Cat.  He's become friendly enough that he's now an indoor/outdoor pet.  He has lots of personality, and many quirky habits which keep us laughing all the time. Love him so much.

Sassy was born in 2004. She was the offspring of a mama cat that was just passing through.  She's pretty skittish and wild, but will trust me enough to take a piece of lunch meat from my hand.

Booger Bear is another offspring of Ms Grey.  He was born in 2005.  Dave named him Booger because of the brown spot on his nose, but I added the Bear.  I just couldn't make myself call anything Booger.

Jake, also an offspring of Ms Grey, was born in 2005, and was a litter mate with Booger Bear.  He is a strange cat, in that he's friendly, but only on his terms.  He found himself a less crowded territory down the street, but comes home every evening for a short indoor visit.  Then he heads back down the street.  When it's cold outside, he spends more time with us.

Tabitha (or Tabby) was born in 2006.  She is the offspring of Sophie, and the sole survivor of the last litter born to my feral colony.  She's very friendly, and has become another indoor/outdoor pet.  

Shadow is the only cat that isn't an offspring to one of my ferals.  He wondered up to our food trays one day in 2008, and decided to stay.  At first, he was aggressive, but that didn't last.  After weeks with nobody asking after him, we assumed he was ours.  We took him to be neutered, treated for fleas and ear mites, and he settled in nicely.  He is now one of the friendliest cats we have, making it hard to get a good picture of him.  He just wants to rub his face on the camera. lol

So there we have my seven surviving feral cats.  They, along with my 6 indoor pets mean the world to me.  I hope they're all with me for many years to come.