In Memory of Pets

Sadly Tom, my darling old white gentlemen, is doing very poorly tonight...

He has not been eating with as much gusto the last two days and when he didn't turn up for dinner at all tonight ... I went looking for him, after about an hour of calling and searching, I saw his tail sticking out from under a huge monsterio plant in my yard....

He barely moved and didn't have enough strength to get away........he was very weak and dehydrated... it was over 38 degrees (Centigrade) in Sydney today (over 90 degrees farhenheit)

I have just spent the last 3 hours (off and on to give him a break to get his strength in between)

I have been getting him to drink water and now a little whiskers milk (formulated for cats as cows milk would just make any cat feel even sicker)

... If I can get some clavulox into him, then I will try, but I don't want to distress him.... he is resting in the 'kitty hospital' where I take them when they need some one on one care...In my cat run where I can monitor their health, drinking, eating etc..... poor old thing...

He does have melanoma (Skin cancer) which we discovered on our last vet trip 3 months ago... but he was not critical then, just a check up because his eyes looked a bit sore (red not mucky - thought it was an allergy at the time) - anyway - hopefully he will keep this last lot down and feel better so I can take him to a vet who doesn't want to just put him down because he is a squirrel...(what we call a former stray who isn't completely tame - not with strangers anyway - and likes to live outside rather than being a house cat)

I lov this old guy and his grizzled face greeting me every night and every morning... my usband and I have looked out after him for over 4 years since we forst discoverd him - he is an important part of our lives.

Please give up some prayers for my dear old boy Tom.

Thanks

Kerry

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Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.

oh, dear kerry , please know I am thinking of you and your Tom and holding you all in the light

xozoo

Thanks Zoo, I can always count on you my friend!

Tom is slightly better today. I need more improvement though as he is still very weak......

He drank a lot of fluids last night and then - chucked them all back up..... he was panting and miserable last night - I cleaned up the mess, wet his ears thoroughly (as he was hot and they loss heat off their ears and paws I felt that this may help a lot too) and then set him back down with more water and whiskers (cat formula) milk if he felt like them during the night and fell into bed around 2.

I set my alarm for 7.30am so I could get him to the vet by opening at 8.30am. I went to slep with the thought that by then, he may not be with us...

But he is a little brighter this morning, he no longer has a high temp (altough I could not get the clavulox into him so perhaps it was a heat stroke issue) - anyway - he has drunk ALL the water and ALL the whiskers milk - no throw up anywhere and no pee either - so he WAS severly dehydrated - now that may have been the cause of his illness - or it may be a symptom of something worse.... time will tell....

I know that his skin 'tented' last night and not this morning - so now that the dehydration is treated we will see what else unfolds.

When I tried to get him into a carrier this morning - well.... he was NOT going to be moved and got very distressed - so, because he was panting and getting upset with the process - I wanted him to feel better and more in control again, so I left him alone - I will monitor him today and move him into a carrier to go to the vet when he is more placid again......

He was an old boy (completely emaciated) when we met him 4 years ago..... we kidded him to live in our yard with yummy healthy food, shelter etc and he has been a beloved fixture ever since - he is all white with the inherent danger of skin cancer, has had most of his teeth removed (the vet took out all the nasty snaggle teeth that hurt) he has his left back paw missing and the front left is pretty flattened (the vet reckons a car could have run over the two paws a long time ago...) and he has the cutest, big, rough, boofy crumpled up big jawed ex tomcat face....

I just love the old guy! Anyway - I am going to nurse him all day and try to make him stronger - I fear that a vet would have convinced me to put him to sleep last night as he had become almost completly limp and quite unresponsive until I forced some fluids into his mouth....

We shall see how he goes - wish me luck - Please inlcude Tom in your prayers!

Thanks,

Kerry

_________________
Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.

wow! your Tom is such a goer !

ah, I LOVE what you are describing - the love and devotion we have to our snaggle toothed old loves and theirs to us -

positively uplifting!

and Tom trusts his friend Kerry as best as he can, and knows your wise care will not lead him wrong

my thoughts and blessings are with you, Tom and yours

Tom is comfortable as can be expected.

His condition is not great, but better than he was, he is still quite weak, but I am doing my best for him.

I am going to try and get my vet to do a house call as I do not want to put a strain on Tom's heart as he is so weak....

I have had to place him in the bathroom to give him a safe cool place to be as it is 39.4 degrees celcius outside (102.9 Farenheit)... the aircon is on in te adjoining room and he seems to be a bit more comfortable.


it is a little cooler than the day I grabbed him out of the yard, so this is why I think he had heat stroke and dehydration.......

Anyway - please pray for my old boy Tom....

_________________
Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.

Well, Tom is feeling MUCH better...

Though he is still not 100%

Whilst he is now eating and drinking well... when I hand feed him, or hold the bowl to his mouth that is..... he is still a little weak....

He is in the kitty hospital, and he is using his litter - so we know his internal organs are now working quite well...... thankfully!

Anyway - as he is still recovering, I have been gentley encouraging him to get up and walk about a bit.......

Well.........

He is not happy with my interference!


As much as I would LOVE to have him bcome one of my indoor guys... I think he has other plans entirely...

He still lets me tickle his tummy and stroke his fur and tickle his chin.... BUT... the call of the wild is still in him... and he only allows it for a few moments... then the purrs stop.... he starts to frown a bit.... then he hisses........

You know what? I have to respect this old street living creatures personal space........as much as I would love to keep stroking him and making him purr... it is not something that comes naturally to him..... he is conflicted, he loved the feeling of being pampered and petted.... but he also wants to have his space... his freedom of movement...

Sigh.....

He is stil too weak to be released adn I dread what another hot day could do to him.... so .... I will open the door on the Kitty Hospital, and he can start roaming the rest of the patio/verandah... get some strength back... and then I will evaluate him for release back into the environment he craves... I am hoping and praying that he has a change of heart ... and wants to become an indoor kitty where I can are for him more closely in his old age....

But... it is his decision, his life and if he starts to get depressed and upset at his surroundings then it is not a gift to him to be closely cared for... it will be prison, comfortable and safe... but not his choice.....

I must allow him what will make him happy.....

we chall see how he goes in the next few days... wish me luck and join me in praying for a good outcome for Tom?

Thanks,

Kerry

_________________
Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.

Tom is feeling much better today!

He is still a little weak, but I have had him out of the kitty hospital ad exploring the verandah/patio.... and it seems to be doing him some real good.

He is now eating and drinking independantly, although I start him off by holidng the food or drink under his nose....

He still hisses at me, when he has had enough interferance (stroking and patting that is) - but it takes a lot of time to get sick of it now... and h is approaching me for strokes ad tickles too!



Whe he first approached me, he was actually climbing up higher to get to me... then he tucked his head under and rolled over exposing his tummy for tickles... and wriggled with happiness and to expose more tummy as his purrs turned into pigeon purrs (where the purr is so loud that it starts to sounds like the sound of a dove /pigeon - hilarious and very ndearing in a cat!)

Wow, this is amazing.... can he be preparing himself to be one of our little indoor buddies?

He has always used the kitty litter whn he has been in the kitty hospital and never makes a mistake....

I so hope he become one of my indoor guys as I always worry about him even though he lives in my front yard... he is much older now and with only 3 legs and seeing what the heat did to him... well ... pray that he continues to improve and that he wants to become an indoor cat (with access to the cat runs of course!)

Take car everyone! Don't forget the prayers!

Cheers,

Kerry

_________________
Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.

Well Tom is getting better!

Now I am giving him food and he eats it pretty much on his own....

Today was fairly cool, so when the sun went down, I got one of my heating pads warmed up for him and put it in where he has tekn up sleeping (He now LIKES the itty hospital room to sleep in - the doors to the outside area patio/vernadah ar open and he likes to wander about - but returns there for sleeping - or to come closer to me to recive his pets!

Yay - Tom is SO clever!

Now for the latest surprise!

I was experimenting with sounds to see what he would respond to...

When I make kitten mewling sounds... or mother cat mewling 'call respnse' sounds well....



He sprang up straight at my face......... to look all around me for the other kittens/cats......

His expression was priceless... he went all soft faced and gentle... and then he realised that the sound was coming from me..... so he came up slowly, sniffing towards me nose... I closed my eyes in that squeezy eyed way that cats say - "I am safe, I am no threat.. we can be friends...."

and I recieved a distinct 'head Butt KISS!"

He bumped forheads Y nose with me and purrd in ecstacy!




I was amazed!

He ate his dinner with gusto - and kept coming back for more head bumps!

I am SO happy.... he is just coming along in leaps and bounds health wise, behaviour and trust wise and all.... it is so very humbling to have a creature who has been 'free living' show me a new side to him, that kittenish, sweet side.... he rolls over for belly rubs and has started to hug my hands too.... I only wish he would have succumbed to the ways of human care way back all those years ago when I first found him starving, ribs ad spine protruding through his fur..... oh how much healthier and happier he would have been, ow much safer all of these years!

I love my old Tom.

I hope he wants to live indoors - it seems to be shaping up that way!

YAY!


More prayers for his continued progress into being an indoor kitty please!

Cheers,

Kerry

_________________
Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.

kerry -

I love it! !

god - the hairs on my arms stood up when you related how you attempted to speak "cat" to Tom and his amazing response

it's why we do it, isn't it? I'm still mesmerized when that "real communication" happens

to his continued health, happiness and "indoor kittydom" !

and a round of applause for you, friend!

oh dear oh dear oh dear!

Tom is getting better, but I have been worried about his state of mind - after the kitty mewl episode - i realised he is probably missing his friends and could feel isolated (I visit with him all the time, but I am sure that that doesn't replace his other feline relationships as all)

Anyway - I have tried to introduce him to my indoor cats - TOm is fine with them... thy on the other hand are NOT too happy with an interloper..... but still I willl press on with that.....

I took my little swet outdoor kitty Dash, from out the front when he was feeding the other night, he is pretty tame - just HATES being indoors thats all - anyway - after the wailing had stopped ("Let me go - I don't WANNA be indoors") - and he was in the kitty hospital area with TOm, it was SO sweet - Tom started to mak kitty meaow sounds and silent meows to Dash.... and when Dash got close for a head butt.... TOm reached out his paw, huggd his buddy close to him... and started to give him a wash....

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........

tom is such a lovely boy....

After about an hour of supervised visit - I took Dash back to the front of the house (As he was acting very 'caged in") - Dash immediately settled down once out the front with his dinner....

Last night however - a different story altogether....

I did all that I did the night before - but thought " I wonder if my Little Girl Flash remembers her brother Dash......



NOT a good move.... Flash was furious!

And she growled and hissed at the boys - ad then that stirred them up - and they got angry - with ME!

I put her back inside the house and she calmed down.... but I couldn't get near the boys for ages as they hissed and growled at me......

OH DEAR!


I did gt to cuddle and stroke them again when they calmed down... but it took a while...

So, no cats in with them when they do their visits for a while anyway!

OK - so it is time to sign off ....

Wish me luck?

Thanks!

Kerry

_________________
Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.

Hmmmmm Tom .... and unusual character...

Well, my dear old Tom seems quite conflicted....

Sometimes he wants affcetion and loving pats -and rolls over for a tummy rub, or a chin tickle - and other times... he doesn't want me anywhere near him AT ALL!

I am trying to work out my body language, tone of voice etc when appraching him nad I think I am figuring it all out...

Sometimes he is mid purr and tickle and a little switch seems to go off in his head and he believes I am a potential threat and he starts hissing at me to leave him alone....

I suppose it is hard to be able to trust a person when people have treated you so badly your entire life....

I hope he will one day, just allow himself to trust.....

I love that little old guy so much..... he really is a sweet old cat the majority of the time!

_________________
Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.

Tom, my dear boy, has his good days and his bad days...

Yesterday, he was off his food a bit, but his general condition is that he looks wonderful......though, not having to live 'outside' means that his coat looks better anway..

Please give up some prayers for my boy so that he gets better and allows himself to become more domesticated over time......

Thanks!

_________________
Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.

Tom, my dear old Tom.....

Well today in Sydney it hit 45 Degrees celcius - 113 Farenheit... so I brought him in from his kitty hsopital palace and got him in to our cool bathroom - at forst he was very unsettled and not happy - but eventually on colling down I think he realised he felt better there...

Now that it had cooled down in the late of the evening - I decided to check on his dinner and strated to hand feed him.... he had rosted on a chair and I was sitting cross legged on the floor (As you do) and he jumped down and crawled into my lap!



extraordinary!

He did it twice!

I think, once a very long time ago, when he was a kitten he may have been someones pet...... whatever happened to that relationship......

Anyway - it was lovely and we both enjoyed it - but I have to say, he is a very old fellow indeed..... although he is eating he is losing weight and the cancer above his eyes leading up to his ears goes from looking relatively OK to looking raw ad very sore (although he never seems to worry - though it must itch bcause he scratches at the area)

Anyway - he may be getting some leasions in other areas of his body - it will be a trip to the vet to get an update soon.....

I am worried about my dear old fellow.... very woried - but I love thst 90% of the time he is quite tame - 10% of the time he is fighting with that 90% and will lash out a bit in confusion at his own behaviour...
But all in all, all things considerd - I feel so lucky to have this time with him, showing him what being a beloved companion is all about......

Please pray for my boy - he is quite old and needs all the help he can get!

Thanks,

Kerry

_________________
Friends of the heart never truly leave us. They are with us always in all ways.