November 2018 Notes

Who’s in care with TinyKittens as of November 30:
♦ Shelly’s basement: The Peanuts Kittens: Snoopy (black boy with blue collar), Charlie Brown (black boy with white hairs and yellow collar), Lucy van Pelt (black girl with pink collar), the Red Baron (tabby boy), Violet (grey girl with white locket), and Linus van Pelt (grey boy with spinal issues).
♦ Shelly’s: Mason, Auracuda and Salia are in the main part of the house with the Teens and Cassidy
♦ At Kimsies’: Moustachio (aka Stashie Bumblepants — see Kimsies’ Leo, Bobbi, Bowie & Big Brother Jager Facebook page for updates)

→  Comparison weight chart from Firefly’s kittens to Princess Consuela’s Auto kittens ←

November 30

• The Red Baron, Snoopy, and Charlie Brown went in for their neuters today. The Red Baron is also getting x-rays of his hind end/tail since he has a similar kink there to Linus’s.
• The Red Baron had an unexpected meeting with Grandpa Mason today.
  
  

November 29

• Linus had his consultation with a neurologist today:
  
  • The neurologist says Linus’s spinal issues are congenital. It’s just the way he is and will be and there is no need for any kind of surgery or even physical therapy at this point. Just let him do his thing and be himself and watch for any changes.
  • He’s adjusted very well to his situation and eats, plays, and purrs so no indications that he is in any kind of pain.
  • Because he is still very young, there’s a small possibility that, as his spine grows, his spinal cord (which doesn’t keep growing) may get pinched and cause paralysis, bowel/pee issues, etc.; if that rare event occurs, he may need surgery. Once he passes the age of about six months, that danger will have passed. (No way to test for that possibility now and couldn’t prevent it if they could.)
  • The specialist says Linus has “tremendous anal tone”. 😉
• The Red Baron, Snoopy, and Charlie Brown are going in for their neuters tomorrow. The Red Baron will also be getting x-rays. All three will be up for adoption after their surgeries. (TK hasn’t received any applications for any of the kittens yet.)
• Violet, Lucy, and Linus will be going in for their speuters next week. Linus will get better x-rays taken at that time as well.
• TK are hoping to trap the kittens’ parents (and any other adult cats they can trap) for TNR. Not sure where they will house TNR cats at this point, and they won’t have much notice when TNR cats will be coming in from this colony. The caretaker of this colony has been shown videos and was happy to see how loved and cared for the kittens that TK has taken in over the last few months are.
• The cryptorchid kitten from the previous batch of eight from this colony (Blu or Dusty, I believe) will be going in for exploratory surgery as his testicle has still not descended. (Not sure if these kittens are still in foster care with VOKRA or have been adopted out by them already.)
• Aura is doing great. She’s been off antibiotics for nine days now and still “blowing snot rockets”. Shelly has been trying to get a clean, uncontaminated sample of the nasal discharge for testing.

November 27

• The kittens are still getting eye drops. Socialization is going well and they are hiding less and less when the humans show up suddenly (and missing the humans more and more when they leave).
• Lucy is still not feeling well. I believe she got some anti nausea meds this afternoon, though I missed all of that. Shelly took Lucy and The Red Baron with her upstairs this evening so that she could syringe-feed Lucy.
• The upstairs video feed was shut down today as Salia is the only adoptable cat up there at the moment. Both the remaining public feed and the VIP feed are showing the same view(s) of the Peanuts Kittens.

November 26

• During her evening visit with the kittens today, Shelly gave Lucy some fluids and food by syringe since she is a little dehydrated and not eating well. She also threw up a couple of times today.
• Shelly says that The Red Baron has the worst body condition of the six, skinny and with a wormy belly. [He was also the one who, during intake, had a bit of a squeak from his nose or lungs so he may have been unwell for awhile.]

November 24

• Kathryn Jane posted pics and videos from her visit to the Happy Forest today.
  

November 23

• The kittens took out two cams (the wedge cam and the room cam) overnight. There were many shenanigans.
• The new kittens have names now. They are the Peanuts Kittens, named after characters in the cartoon:
  • Linus van Pelt = grey boy with spinal issues
  • Lucy van Pelt = black girl with pink collar
  • The Red Baron = tabby boy
  • Violet = grey girl with white locket
  • Snoopy = black boy with blue collar
  • Charlie Brown = black boy with yellow collar
    
• TK got the x-ray report for Linus. His problem could be congenital or traumatic; they’ll need better images (i.e. CT scan) to get a better idea of his prognosis. Shelly gave him a session with the Assisi Loop during her visit. Shelly checked all of the kittens to see if any had tail anomalies — Red Baron does. (She didn’t mention that any of the others had issues; she did type a lot after checking out Lucy’s tail so perhaps Lucy also has some anomalies.) The kittens were all out in the room playing during Shelly’s visit instead of hiding.
  
• These kittens come from the same colony that the “8 kittens from a complicated situation” came from this summer.
• Radar got to go back to the Happy Forest today.
  
• Kimsies also posted a couple of other videos from her Happy Forest visit today.
  
  

November 22

• The kittens were very scampy overnight, wrecking their room and escaping into the other room through the sliding panel door.
• Suzanne had a marathon 3+-hour visit with the kittens today.
• Shelly and Kimsies spent the US Thanksgiving with Fanny (formerly Patty from the BC Fires Ferals) and her humans.
  
• Shelly weighed the grey boy (now named Linus) during her late evening visit. He now weighs 1104 grams, down 34 grams from intake as a result of him finally shifting the poop (and parasites) he was holding onto.

November 21

• Suzanne had a long visit with the kittens today. Lots of play time with the pink-collared panther girl.
• Shelly set up some additional cameras, including one overlooking the wedge behind the nest, where the kittens like to hide.
  
• Shelly weighed the kittens before taking the grey boy (with his pink-collared sister for company) to the vet for x-rays: grey boy with spine issue is 1138 grams, black boy with blue collar is 1219 grams, black girl with pink collar is 1011 grams, grey girl with white locket is 1557 grams (!!), tabby boy is 1346 grams, and black boy now with yellow collar (formerly no collar) is 1136 grams. Shelly said she’ll probably have to adjust their birth dates since they are all clearly at well above speuter weight (and way above six-week-old kitten weight. [She thought they were six to seven weeks old on intake, but they are probably more like eight or nine, possibly more.]
• At the vet, they took x-rays, which have been sent on to a specialist. There is something skeletal going on in his back-end. Shelly had to give him an enema when she got home as his belly was very full and they want to make sure nothing gets backed up. She added a new cam view overlooking the litter boxes, and we are now on Poop Watch.
  
• In the evening, Shelly posted a clip of the grey boy playing with (and protecting) the coveted red feather squeaky toy that his pink-collared sister loves so much. She also posted a video of roundworm-filled poop.
  

November 20

• Surprise kitten intake this evening. Six kittens — not from any of the colonies or related to any cats who have ever been at TinyKittens — were brought in after a couple of weeks of Gwen building trust with their caretaker. (A partial video of the intake, showing the first 45 minutes, was posted by Shelly and is shown below.)
  • The kittens are about seven weeks old and in pretty good condition. (They were well cared for by their caretaker.) They are also fairly social and will be ready for adoption in a few weeks, once they make speuter weight and any parasites are gone. (Shelly’s says they have very round bellies, which is generally a sign of parasites.) They were given Revolution and FVRCP vaccinations, which cover feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR), calicivirus (FCV), and panleukopenia (FPV).
  • There are two grey kittens (a boy and a girl), three black kittens (two boys and a girl), and one tabby (a boy). The female grey kitten is much larger than the others so possibly not the same litter (or just the largest of the bunch); she is also the most skittish. The male grey kitten has some problems in his back end, possibly a result of trauma or congenital issues. He will hopefully be going in tomorrow for some x-rays.
  • Shelly put a pink collar on the black panther girl and a blue collar on one of the black panther boys, but I’m not sure which of the two black boys got the collar. (One of the black boys has little white hairs.)
  • The pink-collared panther girl is apparently best pals with the grey boy with the spinal issue.
    
    

November 19

• Hyatt had a final vet checkup this morning and was given the all-clear. He returned to the Happy Forest today.
  
• Moustachio‘s latest blood test results show that his kidneys have lost almost all of their function, indicating that he is nearing the end of his time with us.
  
  
  
• Kathryn Jane posted pictures and video from her visit to the Happy Forest today.
  

November 17

• Shelly posted a video of Radar‘s shadow as he climbed one of the screens on the sun porch. Rocket was already over Shelly’s higher wall and on the other side of the room; he will be going back to the Happy Forest today, lucky boy. (Radar will stay at TKHQ another couple of days to recover from his dental before he, too, returns to the colony.)
  
• Shelly packed Rocket up to go back to the colony. Catching him was an adventure — it was off-cam, but we could hear the noise of him ricocheting off everything. Shelly eventually herded him through the door into the other side and into the nest, where she could more easily catch him. The screen is even more shredded, finishing up the job Evolene started when she made a nice hole in it during her stay on the porch.
• Cache and Luca‘s humans held a dinner party for the TinyKittens crew and posted pictures and a video for fans.
  
  November 16

• Radar had his dental surgery and neuter today. He had four teeth removed, and his eye is looking better.
• Shelly noted that the screen is shredded. She added more bricks to the top of the wall in the middle of the porch, in the hopes that it would prevent Rocket from being able to scale it and go over to the non-cat-proofed other side. (Spoiler: It did not.)
• Shelly posted several pictures from the Happy Forest, including an adorable one of Ramona playing. The feeding station shelter tarps were rehung today.
  

November 15

• Rocket had his neuter today.
• Radar will have his neuter and dental surgery tomorrow. He is getting eye drops for an ulcer in his left eye.
• Kathryn Jane posted a number of videos and pictures from her visit to the Happy Forest today.
  

November 14

• Rocket ‘s neuter has been scheduled for tomorrow. Radar‘s is still scheduled for Friday.
• Shelly is able to get close enough to the panthers to comb/brush them, though they’re still a bit skittish. Hyatt is still not a fan of humans.

November 13

• Radar was scheduled for his neuter and dental surgery today, but it was rescheduled for Friday instead. Rocket will have his neuter at a later date, to be determined.

November 12

• The panthers have been in and out of the Cabinet of Solitude aka the nest several times over the past two days, including some attempts to escape and/or follow Hyatt over the Great Wall. But they are still sticking mostly to the COS.
• The two panthers were finally named: cat #1 is now Rocket and cat #2 is now Radar.
• I uploaded a slo-mo capture (at 1/4 speed) of Rocket’1 parkouring around the room during his intake. I added it to the November 10 entry but am also embedding it here.
  
• Kimsies posted a video from her visit to the Happy Forest today.
  

November 11

• Fresh catnip for everyone, not at all appreciated.
  
• Lest we forget. Whether you call it Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, Veteran’s Day, or something else, today is a day to remember all the soldiers and animals who fought and died in service around the world. Today is the 100th anniversary of the original Armistice, at the 11th of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. (Most people don’t really think about the number of animals who died in service during World War I. Millions of animals died, including horses, donkeys, camels, dogs, cats, and pigeons. See Telegraph’s World War I: Animals at War, in pictures, the Animals in War Memorial Fund, and search Google for more information about animals in WW I.)
  

November 10

• Shelly trapped two cats at the Happy Forest and brought them in for TNR.
  They are both all black, intact males that have’t been catalogued yet. (Shelly was hoping that she’d trapped at least one of the all black female cats seen at the colony — two of them were visibly pregnant when seen on August 17.)
  • Cat #1: Named Rocket on November 12. Not that old, probably between 12 and 18 months old. He has a little scab on one, possibly a result of fighting. His teeth look great, his body condition is good. Shelly tried to release him into the nest on the sun porch but he panicked and ping-ponged around the room — from window to wall and back again, over Hyatt and everything else in his path and shutting off the feed’s audio in the process — before finally finding a hiding spot. (He eventually went into the nest on his own.)
    
  • Cat #2: Named Radar on November 12. He is similar in appearance to Rocket. (They look a lot like Ramona, with that sweet “Toothless the baby Night Fury” look.) He has the typical feral incisors, gingivitis, and maybe some resorptive lesions. (Shelly tooks some pictures to send to the vet.) She thinks his teeth look a little older than Rocket’s, but he may have just inherited bad teeth genes. He also has some lice, though not nearly as bad an infestation as Quarren had. Shelly gave him Revolution to kill the lice. Shelly considered segregating him from Rocket and Hyatt until the lice were dead, but then decided to leave him in the room for companionship’s sake — Hyatt has already been treated.
    
  • How to tell them apart? At the moment, given our current general viewpoint, the only way to tell them apart is that Radar (known currently as R2 until Shelly names him) has a permanent blep, or stuck out tongue, due to his dental issues.
• Shacara (vet tech from Boundary Bay Veterinary Specialists) dropped by to take blood from Mason, so that he wouldn’t have to be subjected to the stress of being captured and taken in.

November 9

• Hyatt went to the vet today for a follow-up. His eye is 99% healed. (There is still a tiny area of fluorescein uptake, indicating that there is still some active ulceration.)  They will continue giving him eye drops for another week and then recheck it. Barring anything momentous happening, he will most likely be heading back to the Happy Forest once he gets cleared by the vet.
• The biopsy results are back for Salia‘s ear polyp, and it was benign.
• Shelly posted a video on Instagram of Gallico against the iPad.

• View this post on Instagram

• Gallico v. iPad, with an adorable cameo from Ramona. 😻

• A post shared by TinyKittens HQ (@tinykittenshq) on Nov 9, 2018 at 6:01pm PST

November 6

• Shelly posted a quick update on her sleep out last night.
  Princess Consuela went to her new home today. Her new name is Kelly Clarkson and she has two new feline siblings (Carrie Underwood and Paul Brandt) and a canine brother (Luke Bryan). Her Facebook page is Kelly Clarkson – From TinyKitten to Country Superstar.
  

November 5

• Salia went for her checkup today.
• Hyatt‘s follow-up toxoplasmosis test results show that he no longer has any live infection so he is no longer getting antibiotics. They will continue to give him eye meds. He will likely be returning to the Happy Forest once everything has been treated as much as it can.
• Tonight is the Covenant House Sleep Out to Support Homeless Youth. Shelly, Dr. Ferguson, and Angie Quaale are among the people who will be sleeping out tonight in the cold and rain in support of homeless youth.
  
• Princess Consuela has been adopted. She will be leaving for her forever home tomorrow at 5:30 PM. The event will not be on-cam but video will apparently be uploaded later. She will have a Facebook page.

November 4

• Enara‘s human went with Kim T to the Happy Forest today. She uploaded a bunch of pictures and videos from her trip.
  
  
  
  

Harvie Colony cats still looking for their forever homes

• I was going through all of my notes today working on a page for the Harvie Colony cats, and I decided to check and see if any of the cats transferred to Katie’s Place were still available for adoption.
• I was surprised to see that three of them are still waiting for their forever homes, including the sweet little tuxie known as Skunk during his brief time at TKHQ due to the little white stripe on his back. He is up for adoption as part of a bonded pair along with one of his Harvie buddies.
• One of the other black and white tuxies (the one with the Eaton/Justin/Badger nose stripe) is also up for adoption.
• The other two cats who were transferred to Katie’s Place (the tuxie who looked like a female Barty clone and the grey tabby) were either adopted or are not considered adoptable yet as they are not in the list of available cats.

November 3

• Kathryn Jane was the lunch lady at the Happy Forest colony today.