Quiet time with kitties

Ginger and Snap are still recovering from their feral beginnings; both babies are still fighting off ringworm and respiratory infections, and they're both still pretty nervous around people. Today we're having some quiet time while the babies explore a new space in our house. Both of them have decided that they love the windows! They took turns sitting and watching the grass and plants in the backyard. It's cool and breezy, with lots of new smells blowing in on the breeze.

Rescue Spotlight: CedarPark/Leander Community Cats - A Trap/Neuter/Release Program

Today I wanted to give a shout out to a local group that is making a big difference in their community.
The Cedar Park/Leander Community Cats program is a very small organization, but they make a difference! Their program focuses mainly on caring for and maintaining the local feral cat colonies. They follow the Trap/Neuter/Release protocols; This allows for feral cats to spayed or neutered and then returned to the neighborhood colonies where they live. These kinds of feral cats are usually completely wild and not suited to living in a home; getting them spayed or neutered and then returned to their "wild" environment allows them to live their life without contributing to the overpopulation problem in their colony.

The volunteers in this group also try to isolate and catch kittens from the colonies; the kittens CAN be rehabilitated and can usually be adopted as they get older.

Ginger and Snap are two of the kittens that this group brought in from one of their feral cat colonies.
Their mother was also trapped, fixed, and released back to her colony.

Thank you Cedar Park/ Leander Community Cats! You all do a wonderful job!


You can find out more about this group on their facebook homepage at: https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-ParkLeander-Community-Cats-tnr-program-197589304098119/

Ginger and Snap: Two week update

Ginger and Snap had a good checkup today; they got their booster shots, and started a new round of meds for that pesky URI. The vet tech commented on how they were both so sweet and friendly today, which is a radical change from their fear and skittishness from two weeks ago. They both still have a LOT of active ringworm, but they're looking healthier and are making good progress! Hopefully by the time of their next booster (two more weeks) they'll be almost over it! The kitties are going to hate it, but it's time to step up the baths to twice a week.

Memorial Service for Lundy

Our dear friend Lundy L Lundy, APAs own resident Cat Man, passed away early Sunday morning after a hard battle with cancer.

He went peacefully in his sleep surrounded by dear friends and with both his furr babies close at hand.

Naming Sumac 1 and 2

Ok so these little kittens need some better names!
I made a post on Facebook about it and here are the suggestions so far:

Ginny and George (Weasley!)
Habanero and Bonnet (after hot peppers)
Felicity and Oliver
Oompah and Loompah
Lundy and Brittany (named for two very dear APA staff who died)
Ginger and Snap


So far my favorites are Ginger and Snap, tied with Brittany and Lundy,  followed by Ginny and George.

What is a Nebulizer and why should I use it for sick kittens?

So I figured that I should share a bit of information about one of the treatments for my foster kittens; Nebulizer treatment.

"Nebulizers are delivery systems in which bulk liquids containing dissolved drugs are put into a fine particle mist. The resulting mist is breathed in, allowing delivery directly to the respiratory tract. Inhaled therapy allows higher concentration of antibiotic to be delivered where needed without toxic levels being reached. Symptoms are alleviated and breathing eased. Nebulization therapy breaks up congestion, which supports an animal's immune response. A major benefit of nebulization therapy is seeing quick, positive results. Upper respiratory infection (URI) causes animals not to breathe through the nose. Effective therapy for upper respiratory infections in the nasal sinus takes a step to allow "nose breathing" while inhaling. Nebulization works best if animals can breathe through their nose, getting to the source of the problem."

My kittens are getting twice-daily nebulizer treatment with sterile saline solution; this is supported by oral antibiotics and Lysine powder.

The nebulizer treatment can very extremely important for undersized and underweight kittens; most cats eat only when they can smell their food, and congested kittens will stop eating. I run the nebulizer treatment for 20 mintues before feeding time in the hopes that it will help decongest the kittens enough that they will eat on their own. Little girl is underweight enough that I'm feeding her gruel from a syringe to supplement what she eats on her own. Little guy seems to be eating well on his own at this point and doesn't seem to need any supplemental feedings.

I've used nebulizer treatments in the past on fosters with URIs and the results are always very good; usually the kittens make a pretty good recovery in about three to four days. I'm hoping it will help out my current kitties. I do feel pretty bad about having to the use the nebulizer on my current kittens; the machine is pretty loud and you have to confine them in a small space (pet carrier) so that the nebulizer is most effective. My little guys seem pretty freaked out by it :(

No Panleuk, just Upper Respiratory Infections!

Posted from Facebook:

"So my little kittens are still looking pretty rough; They have both developed upper respiratory infections and each have a gunky eye (on top of the pre-existing ringworm).
I've been loaded up with a full regime of meds and treatments for them: Oral antibiotics and Lysine for the URIs, Probiotics and a new dewormer for digestive upset, an antiviral in case they catch anything else because they're immunosuppressed right now, and an Antifungal shampoo and Lyme Dip for the ringworm.
Oh yeah, and the shelter lent me a nebulizer to use on them three times a day to try and decongest them a bit.

As skittish as these little guys are I'm waiting to start the lyme dip and ringworm shampoo until they're a bit further along; they're so shy and scared and I'm really working on trust building with them right now. I think the baths would undermine what I'm working on with them.
I make it a point to pick them up and cuddle them until they purr whenever I have to give them a med or nebulize them. They're both still very hissy when they see hands coming for them, but as soon as I hold them and start petting they start purring. Little boy even licked my nose earlier while I was holding him.
This is only our second full day of fostering but I think we've already made some good progress. I can sit on the floor of the bathroom next to the food and water and after about 5 min both kittens will come out of hiding to eat and drink, or just to sit and clean themselves. They still startle if I move or make and loud noises, but they seem to be getting used to me being around."