Sorry for the delay in this weeks newsletter, it hasbeen a squirrely week. My computer got a virus(yes I had a virus program on there, apparently not enough :( ) so that put me behind on everything.Finally got that taken care of, now playing catch up.I hope everyone’s weather has improved! Our has beenso confused. It was 70 degrees, and in 5 minutes a cold front came in and the temperature literally droppedby 30 degrees and it started sleeting. Crazy weather!Next weekend is open house! It will be a busyweek with lots of visitors coming in fromout of state. We are having a special awardbanquet after open house so it should be a funday!
Newsletter 3/7/2015
Here is our open house schedule for the next few months.We do have the guest house available for visitors.Just email alana@blindcatrescue.com for info.
Operation Bald
Fiona & Jill had their heads shaved baldlast Saturday for the cats. They have raised$3600 so far for the cats! That will spay/neuter 72 homelesscats! There is still time for you help by donating: http://blindcatrescue.org/fundraise.htm?/operationbaldAlana will get hers done live on Ustream during open house.Hope you can watch, if not, a video and pictures will appearon Facebook a day or 2 after. Video of Fiona Getting shaved.
Jake has his endoscopy done. It did not find any cancersor anything like that. That is the good news, the bad newsis his chronic kidney failure is progressing and he is nowon sub-q fluid therapy to keep him comfortable. He alsogot another feeding tube. The doctor felt that it would beeasier on him and us for giving him meds and I would not haveto do sub-q on him while he has the feeding tube. We willsee how long he tolerates the feeding tube. He usually trieshis hardest to get it out after 10 days or so. The bill was$1724. I am going to put an article about kidney disease fartherdown in the newsletter so you know what to watch forwith your cats.
Carrot is having a heck of a time with swelling in the eye socket.We are draining it with a needle every day and he is such asweet baby and tolerates it. The swelling has gotten worseand we got the eye specialist in Raleigh to move up his appointment to 3/13. I hope they can figure out what our vets have missed. He has had THREE surgeries on his eyes!
You can see some of the swelling on his left eye.Mack had his radiation treatment and is doing well.We have gotten past the worst of the handling partand he will be safe for all to love on during open house.
CONTEST NEWS
Eagle Rare Life has told me the winner will be posted on their website first thing in the morning on Tuesday 3/10http://www.eaglerarelife.com/They will also have a video regarding the winner on theirFacebook page https://www.facebook.com/EagleRareBourbonI will shoot you a fast email about the new contestand the results of this one on Tuesday, keep an eye outfor it :)
NEW CONTEST
Petplan Pet Insurance has an annual Tournamentof Tails Challenge and the winning shelter wins$5,000 That would help cover a few weeks of medical care.Pet Plan insurance looks like it might be something you might want to look at for your petshttps://www.facebook.com/petplanHere is a link to their websitehttp://gopetplan.comI wonder if I could get insurance on the catsfor cheaper than the $100,000 a year we spend on vet billsfor them? I will have to look at their policies :)
ANY WAY, about the contest... It apparently works likea sports tournament. They put everyone in a “play off” against another player. The playerwith the most votes advances to the next leveland so long as you keep getting more votes againstanother player, you will keep going to the top.The player with the most votes at the end willwin $5,000 which will help with lots of vet bills.
It does look like all team players do win somethingso that is nice for everyone.Watch for a fast email from me on Tuesdaytelling you how to vote and about Eagle.
Feline Kidney Disease
There are 2 kinds of kidney disease. One is acutewhich is caused by trauma, toxins, those kinds of things. The other is chronic which is more commonand that is the one that most cats have.Let me throw a comment in here before I give you the symptoms. When you take your cat to the vet(heck, dogs too) Insist they take your pets bloodpressure. It is not like humans, they do not do itautomatically. If you catch hypertension soon enoughyou may save your pet from serious organ damageor blindness. If your cat shows any of these symptoms, pleasetake them to your vet for a full check up includingblood work and urinalysis. (Remember, the bloodwork from Mack’s checkup caught his hyperthyroidbefore he even showed symptoms so it is important :) Appetite Loss/decrease, Weight loss (both are symptoms that Jake has, it is like he is slowly wasting away)(And before you ask about quality of life, he is still eating, and playing some, and is not telling us that he is ready to go, when he says it is time, we will kiss him goodbye and send him back to his maker, wewill not allow him to suffer)Vomiting or diarrhea (they do not mean 1 time)Litter box aversionMouth ulcersBad breathConstipationBloody or cloudy urinePain when urinatingStumbling, acting drunkDehydrationChange in water consumptionpain in the kidney area
Here is where they are located.
There is so much information about kidney disease,I am going to give you a few links so you can continuereading, This one is really excellent:http://www.2ndchance.info/kidneycat.htmand another one:http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/kidney-diseaseWith Jake, we are giving fluids, adding supplementsand keeping him comfortable for the time he has with usHe is approx 13 years old, is FIV+ and had a very hardlife before he came to us. X-rays show he has severalbullet pellets.
We are very grateful to all of our eBay sellersand buyers! We try to feature one seller aday on our Facebook page. You may see all of the eBay auctions benefitingthe cats by clicking HERE
This seller has lots of catnip toys for saleand a portion of the auction benefits the cats:
You can watch the cats LIVE every day on ROKU(you will find us in the channel store under specialinterest) or on UstreamWe do a live tour at noon EST every day but SundayA live tour also at 3 pm EST. Thur-Mon we also do atour at 10 pm EST. We do live chat Thursday night-Monday at 6 pm and open boxes from our Amazon Wish list Thursday - Monday at 6:30 pm We hope you will dropin and watch!
The camera changes room each day and startsover on Sunday. You see a different group eachday. The shelter is actually 2 buildings do thetours are of the building the camera is in.House 1 is Wed-Sat, House 2 is Sun-Tues.
The cats say thank you so much for all you do for the cats!