Today I was excited to find a lot of eggs in the barn. Unfortunately, only three were uncracked. It's just too cold and I was late going to fetch the eggs today.
Our vet appointment was fruitful and expensive. All six older kittens got their first round of vaccinations. They will have to go back in 2-3 weeks for boosters. The one kitten with a corneal ulcer (Cloud) got the meds he needs, and the vet said to go ahead and use the same meds on Amos (no eyes) since he's starting to have a little discharge.
Sage got a mixed review. What I was concerned about being an eye ulcer is just scarring from the ulcer she had as a kitten. It will always be there, just part of her character I guess. The constant sinus infection is just that. It's not viral, she won't spread it, it's not into her lungs, it's just n her sinuses. We've done antibiotics before and it doesn't help at all. The vet said for dogs they use doxycyline, but due to pill size and Sage's slight frame it would be too easy to overdose her or cause esophageal ulcers. Vet advised against further treatment. In humans they go in through the nose and break out the inner sinus area and flush it out (my aunt had this procedure done many years ago and said it was horrible). The vet said cats are too small for such a procedure. We both agreed that Sage is a little smushed in the nose and it could be the cause of her inability to drain her sinuses properly. For this, there is no fix. Long story short, Sage will just continue to have a persistent sinus infection for the rest of her life, and since she seems healthy otherwise (eats well, good body condition, proper weight for her frame, no upper respiratory / lung involvement) no further treatment is advised. Once she is spayed she will be ready for a new home.
Henry got a physical and got weighed. He's under five pounds. His slight frame is almost skeletal now. He's been having diarrhea since October, sometimes with blood. The antibiotics he got in October didn't help, and the dewormer he got in January made everything worse. Considering the increase in bullying by our other (now neutered) male cat, the vet suspects he has stress induced enteritis. Henry is literally sick from stress. We already got Netherquartz neutered back in November hoping that might make the bullying stop. It hasn't. Yesterday I caught Netherquartz stalking and swatting Henry. When I shooed him away, Mabel came down from the cat tree to attack Henry. She's the dominant queen in our household and she has always been a little bossy with Henry, but this was just a "so there" after Netherquartz got told off. We need to find Netherquartz a new home before Henry gets too sick to survive. We will be collecting a sample for a fecal test to rule out other parasites, and when we have the extra money he will also be tested for FIV/FeLeuk, but if both of those tests comes back negative, it's just stress and no medication can help. I need Henry to be well enough to have neuter surgery. I want to retire him from breeding but still keep him. Poor guy has food issues and a sensitive stomach, and now he's stressing himself to death. My poor naked boy.
If anyone is looking for a sweet cat, Netherquartz is available immediately. He's neutered, has his rabies vaccination (11/1/18), uses the litter box, and gets along with our other cats and the dog and the kids - just has a beef with Henry (his dad) for some reason. His dad is a sphynx, but he inherited his beautiful fur coat from his Siamese cross momma (Mocha, we don't have her anymore). He's white with blue patches over both ears, his tail, one eye, and I think he has a spot on one ankle too, oh and he has blue eyes! He's a handsome boy, playful, loves to be petted, uses the scratching post. If he'd stop bullying Henry he'd be welcome to stay, but Henry has been with us longer and is the priority here, so Netherquartz needs to go. Asking $85 for Netherquartz, which is what we paid for neuter and rabies vaccine back in November. Netherquartz is the father of all the older kittens except Amos (Amos is Henry's baby).
I'm also still looking for a home for Yin, the black rabbit that will be returning on Saturday. He's been an indoor rabbit, so he needs an indoor home.