Momma Cat Update

This past week has been pretty rough on our newest arrival. Momma Cat, now known as Penny, suffered the loss of all four of her babies this weekend. The veterinarians and technicians were shocked to find that the litter had passed away over the course of Saturday night. Besides Penny's dehydration, both her and her kittens were eating normally.

The doctors at the Animal Health Clinic decided to go ahead with blood work to see if there was an underlying problem that a regular physical exam wouldn't have covered. After running bloods, it showed up that little Penny has an anemic blood disease called haemobartonella, which was probably picked up even before her arrival at the pound 2 weeks ago. Haemobartonella is a parisitic disease transferred through flea bites or open wounds and was definitely the cause of the death of the little kittens. Unfortunately, even if we had discovered the blood disease earlier, Penny's litter still would not have survived. The mother cat automatically passes this disease onto her litter, so the chance of her babies making it through when they were so fragile was slim.

Luckily, haemobartonella is not a long term disease. Thankfully our little girl will make it through, despite her ordeal. Penny was started on antibiotics immediately and will be placed in her foster home this weekend. In the meantime, we are giving her loads of TLC and hope for a forever home that will love her as much as we do.

Bouddha Finally Finds a Forever Home

Bouddha, our 16-year-old diabetic lover boy, has finally found a home. After nearly a year living under the Animal Health Clinic roof, Bouddha was adopted last Saturday afternoon. Bouddha came to us last year in a ketoacidotic state, 15 years old, and about to be put down. After going so long with his diabetes untreated, it didn't seem possible that his blood glucose levels would ever stabilize, but the merciful technicians at the Animal Health Clinic took him in, determined to find him a new home and a second life.

That second chance has finally come for Bouddha, starting over at 16 years old in a multi-kitty house. Living with another, older diabetic cat, Bouddha realy feels right at home. Although the ladies at the clinic will miss his vocal, charismatic personality, everyone is so grateful that he is finally peaceful and happy.