While I’ve decided not to make daily recap pages any longer, I/we still need some place to record events and happenings so I’ve started making monthly recap notes pages. (I will eventually go back and add notes from previous months and years, but at first it will start with late January 2018.)
General Notes
- TK-DNA: TinyKittens has started a new project with the Veterinary Genetics Lab at UC Davis to perform genetic testing on the cats from the Happy Forest and Nano colonies. TKHQ grads from the forest whose humans wish them to take part as well as current guests and any new cats trapped from the colony will have genetic testing done. This will be a unique opportunity to learn about who is related to whom at the colony and hopefully learn more about any genetic issues present in the colony bloodlines.
January 29
- (Harley and Mayo) had their neuters today.
- Someone had a dental today as well; I presume it was one of the guys.
- Sable had more blood drawn for tests as well as an x-ray.
- Riska had an ultrasound. They believe she is in the early days of pregnancy. Her heart is good, her teeth are good, urine looks good. They took blood and have done a PCR test for ringworm, though they still don’t think it presents as ringworm. Dr. F took skin scrapings and determined there is no mange or mites so her bald patches are likely either an allergy or anxiety.
January 27
- Two intact male cats (Harley and Mayo) were brought in from the Happy Forest colony. They will have their neuters on Monday and, after a couple of days recuperation time at TKHQ, will be returned to the colony. They are currently hanging out in the large feral recovery room downstairs at TKHQ.
- Saratoga and Hannity were brought back from the VOKRA foster, who is going away for awhile. They are currently hanging out in the purple room upstairs at TKHQ with Riska.
- Riska was brought in from the colony. She is intact as well — per Shelly, she shows up at the feeding station only when pregnant or nursing so they haven’t TNRed her yet. She has a number of bald patches and a short, stumpy tail. (Shelly wonders if she is the same cat they’d seen over a year ago who had bad wounds from something but who they couldn’t catch to bring in.) She did not fluoresce under black-light — it could be a type of ringworm that doesn’t fluoresce, but it doesn’t present like the ringworm they see at this colony usually does. She was given Revolution and an ear-cleaning and will be examined in more depth on Monday. They don’t know if she is pregnant right now — apparently, love has been in the air at the colony so she could be in the early days of it now. She is currently hanging out in the purple room upstairs at TKHQ with Saratoga and Hannity. She threw up a lot of roundworms within a short time of receiving Revolution, which is good but gross.
January 26
- Shelly and Dr. Ferguson were at the Happy Forest colony “kicking off the forest phase of our Top Secret new feral cat project” — collecting DNA samples from several of the colony’s cats, as well as doing some health care (vaccines, etc.).