daily dose of dogs (aka cats with your coffee)

Wildlife Wednesday – Raccoons

There is a slow progression at Wild Angels.  Animals are in outdoor enclosures.  They are learning to feed themselves and are having almost no contact with Older Daughter at this point.  These are the things that get them ready to be released.   Because there are really no new happenings at Wild Angels, I’ll just update you on a couple of the raccoons on the property.  The first report is a sad one.  One of the raccoon babies has died.  Unfortunately, we believe this little one was destined to perish from the very beginning.  She was small for her age all along, but the real worry was that she just wasn’t growing.  The others far surpassed her in size and weight.  In Nature, this would have been one of the kits that didn’t survive.  If we knew the numbers of baby wildlife that do not survive in the wild it would shock us all.  Older Daughter and I talked about it and we always tell each other the same thing.  Animals live in the moment.  They do not fret about the future.  This little girl was happy and playful right up until she started showing signs of slowing down.  But once she started to decline, she was gone within 24 hours (which is a blessing). 

The other story is about that wobbly momma raccoon who brings her babies to Older Daughter’s yard to eat.  I’ve reported about this mom and two kits several times this year.  Today’s story is a little different however.   Ms Wobbly Raccoon will come into the yard to eat even if Older Daughter is somewhere outside and Ms Wobbly can see her.  But the kits stay back until Older goes inside and then they join mom for some food.  Well the other day, Older was outside and she saw Ms Wobbly moving towards the food.  She saw that the babies were close behind her and had not noticed that Older was outside.  So Older froze.  She stood statue-still and mom wobbled on up to the food with her babies right behind her.  The babies had not a clue that a human was standing so close to them.  Older had her phone out to snap some pics.   The family got close enough that Older could have reached out to touch them.  She didn’t move a muscle.  In the first pic, you see Momma look up at Older Daughter with a baby right behind her.  In the second pic, the baby has suddenly noticed Older and has raised up on hind legs to stare at her.  When the babies realized something was up, they ran away and into the woods line.  It actually spooked Momma Wobbly and she ran with them.  SO cute!

 

 

Good stuff!

 

Tabby Cat

I wonder if you remember me mentioning a tabby cat that has been spotted in these parts here and there since February.  I will refer to this cat as “it” since I don’t know if “it” is male or female.  I first saw this cat the first of February.  It was hunting in the field across from my house.  I set my trap for several days, but the cat wasn’t seen again.  I gave up and assumed it was just passing through.  Then, starting mid-February, we had three big snows.  And after each of these, I discovered cat prints in the snow.  So I started setting my trap again.  The temperatures were frigid, so I could only set the trap when I was able to check it every few minutes.  No animal should sit in a trap in such terrible conditions.  I never caught the cat and when the snow melted there was no more opportunity to see tracks.  But at the end of February, Husband saw the cat cross our driveway.  He raced outside, but the cat had disappeared.   I won’t go back over the details of every time this cat was spotted, but there have been multiple sightings.  Once, Younger Daughter caught sight of the tabby eating just outside of her back door where she puts out food for the opossums.  And Older Daughter saw the cat in a field as she was driving one morning.  AND – you know how Older Daughter is a wildlife rehabber.  She is up in the middle of the night feeding babies during wildlife baby season.  One night (morning actually) around 2am, she was sitting on her couch feeding baby wildlife and she saw movement on her deck.  Sitting right outside her sliding glass door was the tabby cat – looking in.  She got up very slowly and hoped to coax it indoors.  But as soon as the cat registered movement inside, it shot away.   Each daughter has seen the cat at least one additional time beyond what I’ve just reported.  We are all worried about this kitty.  But we have no idea how to get it.  You would think since it’s been SIX months since the first sighting, we should give up the possibility that this cat is still around.  But if you remember the story of the Wisher Theo – my first sighting of him was one July.  And it was December when I finally got him.

And . . .

There’s been another sighting of the tabby cat!  And this time, I got pictures!!

A couple of weeks ago, there were three VERY tiny skunks at the edge of my property near the West Woods.  I told Older Daughter about them and that it was odd that I saw no mom skunk.  Older said that skunk babies definitely either stay in the den or stay with mom when they venture out.  I saw them three nights in a row and there was never a mom skunk.  So I started putting out food in the area where I continued to see them.  I have now not seen them at all for over a week and a half.  But I still walk to that spot every evening and put the food out.  I know those baby skunks are not the ones eating that food, but something is eating there.  So I continue.  Last Friday evening as I was walking to the spot to dump out the “wild animal feast,” I suddenly realized that I had seen something to my right that didn’t belong.  Have you ever done this?  You glance at something you are familiar with, and you turn away.  But your brain registers that something is off.  As I looked back at the spot to my right, THERE WAS THE TABBY CAT.  Frozen.  It was down in a little gully that leads to the gravel road, and it had adequately flattened itself in an attempt to keep me from seeing it.  I slowly pulled out my phone and got some pictures.  Then I started talking ever so quietly and gently.  I took a couple of steps towards it.  It did not move one muscle.  But when I took one more step, it shot off into some grass and then directly into the woods.  Gone.

So.   I am back to setting my trap.  Friends, please keep your fingers crossed.

 

I was pretty far away when I first noticed the cat.

 

 

Look right between the trees.

 

Took a couple of steps and got this pic and then it was gone.

 

Fingers crossed!!

See you tomorrow for a Wildlife Wednesday.

 

Chevie

Last week I said I wanted to introduce you to a precious little kitten who has been through WAY too much.  But there’s a happy ending so I feel good about sharing this story with you. 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago, Older Daughter was home (on her day off from the shelter).  At just a few minutes before  5pm, the kennel worker at the shelter was about to close up and lock the doors.  A call came in about a kitten who was in a car engine when the people started up the car.  The person reported that the kitten was in really bad shape and that the engine had cut off one of its legs.   The kennel worker got on the phone to Older Daughter who immediately called the veterinary clinic that the shelter uses.  Dr. B was just closing up for the day.  But she called her Vet Tech back in and said to send the kitten to them.  The kitten was delivered and Dr. B saw that the tail was also severely damaged.  The only thing to do was to take what was left of the leg off at the hip and to remove the tail as well.      I cannot imagine what this little sweetheart was going through.  And of course, it’s always possible to lose the patient during a surgery for such horrific injuries.

Little Chevie survived the surgery.  Now the nightmare would be what she would go through during recovery.  She lost her tail.  She lost one of her back legs.  The toes on the foot of the other back leg were damaged.  And the pads on her two front paws were burned.  Those first days would be nearly unbearable for this little baby.  She received pain medications of course.  And she mostly just stayed on her side.  Older Daughter took her home to foster her through the recovery.  She had to force-feed her in the beginning.

 

 

This precious little baby girl must have had a real will to live.  She never complained.  In only a matter of days she started to look a little brighter.

 

 

She had to be propped up initially, but she worked and worked and was eventually able to sit up on her own.

 

 

 

The first time I visited her at Older Daughter’s home, I was shocked at how sweet she was.  She wanted all of the attention I would give her.

 

 

 

It’s almost unbelievable, but Chevie is now scooting around the floor at Older Daughter’s.  Older says she wants to explore everything.  She even tries to play with toys.  She isn’t able to walk yet, but she has tried to balance a couple of times.  We know she will eventually master walking with those three legs.

 

 

 

 

We all need a story with a happy ending sometimes.  This one fits the bill.

 

Wildlife Wednesday – Updates and a Newcomer

There is a story for today.  But I thought first I’d give you an update on the various critters at Wild Angels.  Everybody is in an outdoor enclosure at this point except for the two starlings.  They spend some time outdoors and some time indoors at this point.  The little stinkers still want Older Daughter to feed them some of the time.  They will eat on their own but they wait on their “momma bird” (older daughter) to feed them occasionally.  Older is working on this problem so that they can move permanently to an outdoor enclosure.

The little opossum is doing great.  She is soft and sleek and very healthy.  Older Daughter was saying how she especially hates releasing opossums.  They leave her healthy and strong.  But opossums just don’t have a lot of luck staying healthy in the wild.  Anyway – here’s the little cutie about to have a meal.

 

 

The last time I wrote about Wild Angels, I introduced you to two new raccoon babies.  One of these was very young when Older received him.  He had been in a person’s care along with his two siblings.  The two siblings had died, and a friend suggested sending the surviving baby to Wild Angels.  Unfortunately, this little guy died shortly after arriving at Wild Angels.  The other raccoon had been kept as a pet.  That one has now moved in with the two older outdoor raccoons.  She is doing really well and beginning to think of herself as a raccoon.  The five raccoons who had moved outdoors some time ago are all doing great.

 

 

 

I’ve written about a couple of Older Daughter’s releases coming back for a visit.  One of her doves continues to show up in various places in her yard.

 

 

And the wobbly raccoon, who is currently a mother of two, brings her babies to eat in Older Daughter’s yard. 

 

Very satisfying!

 

Now for the story of the day.  This one begins with YOUNGER Daughter.  One evening, Younger’s husband stepped out the back door to put something in a trash can they have out there.  Younger tells the story – He came back in calling for me.  “Hurry”- he said.  “There’s an opossum in our trash can and I don’t know if it’s dead or not but I can see babies!”  I went running out with him and there was the opossum lying on her side in the bottom of the trash can.  I nudged her and got some movement.  Sure enough, a few of her tiny pink babies had crawled out of the pouch and were lying on top of her.  (Older Daughter later explained to us that the opossum babies were still attached to mom.  They were too young to have released.  But the mom’s pouch was somewhat open and they’d moved partially out.)  I called my sister and told her what I was seeing.  She wasn’t home but she said to get the mom into one of her outdoor enclosures and she would tend to her the minute she got home.

 

 

So that’s what Younger Daughter and her husband did.  This mom opossum had managed to get into an empty trash can.  We still cannot figure out how she did this.  Crawling up the side of the empty can should have tipped it over.  But there she was at the bottom.  She couldn’t get out.  The heat had been terrible that day so this mom opossum spent at least some of that day trapped in a trash can in the heat.  Younger Daughter got a bowl of water into the enclosure.  She was hoping the momma would at least drink.  As they were walking away, she turned back and saw the momma opossum drinking.  What a relief!

Older Daughter checked on her new opossum as soon as she got home.  It was the squirrel enclosure that Younger put her in.  She had consumed almost all of the water in the bowl and then climbed way up into the squirrel house.

 

 

Older was able to check her over.  She was slightly dehydrated and she looked rough, but that’s how most mom opossums look in the wild.  She fixed a small doghouse with straw; oh how opossums love straw.  And she got more fresh water and some food into the enclosure.  The next morning, mom was cozy inside the doghouse and all of the food was gone.

 

 

This happened several days ago.  Mom opossum hasn’t made even one attempt to dig out of her enclosure or escape as Older moves in and out.  This momma seems to know that she went from hell to heaven somehow, and she isn’t looking this gift horse in the mouth.

See you next week.

 

Peep Progress

I did not expect to be writing again about Peep.  First let me say thanks for your comments about our big ol’ giant boy.  And thanks to those of you who reached out with advice.  I sure appreciate it.  Everyone was so kind and helpful that I wanted to give you an update.  It’s all good news except for one little “inconvenience” that I have now accepted.

First of all, Peep is MUCH better.  He is urinating easily now.  Of course, I know that this second antibiotic injection could have the same result as the first one.  Two weeks after the first one, he was worse than at the start.  But the vet was hopeful that two of these injections would do the trick.  Then, the issue became how to keep this from happening again in the future.  That required an entirely different diet.   I guess we’ve been lucky to have none of our house kitties on a special diet.  They free-feed dry around the clock.  And they get a small amount of canned food once a day.  There were two hurdles I had to find my way over in order to keep Peep safe.  I had to find both a “urinary tract health” dry food and canned food that he would eat.  And I had to find a way for our other cats to continue to have access to their dry food without Peep joining them. 

After FOUR different dry food trials, and THREE different canned food trials, I’m pleased to announce that Peep accepted one of each.  Unfortunately, the only canned food he will eat is a prescription food.  And it happens to be one that my own veterinary clinic doesn’t carry.  BUT – I found a way to order it myself and the company messages my vet for clearance before charging me and sending the food.  It’s terribly expensive but it’s what he has to have.  The dry food that he was willing to eat is one I can order without a prescription.  So we are all set.

That brought me to the issue of how to feed Peep separately from the others.  He moved into the upstairs bathroom initially so that I could control everything, primarily keeping a watchful eye out for urination.  I discovered that he doesn’t cry overnight in the bathroom, only during the day.  After those first few days, I was able to let him out in the daytime and put him back in the bathroom for the overnight hours.  I resigned myself to the realization that dry food could no longer be out during the day since Peep could go right to it and indulge himself.  Our other cats have not been particularly happy about this new schedule.  But they have adjusted and now they know they can get their fill during the night.  Then Peep has his special dry food and canned food overnight in the bathroom.  Friends, it’s working.  And for that I’m grateful.  At first I was grieving a bit over the loss of my upstairs bathroom.  Certainly I’ve moved cats into that room many times over the years.  But those were always temporary situations.  Looks like this new arrangement will need to be permanent.  I’ve mentioned before that my husband uses the downstairs bathroom more than I do.  Well, I use the upstairs bathroom more.  It now contains a cat bed, water dish, two food dishes, and a litter box.  And I guess it will continue to house these things for the foreseeable future.  Oh, well.  This is life with animals.  Our home has never been “normal” in any sense of the word.

 

Sitting in the chair right beside me as I write this post.

 

Fingers crossed that Peep will not relapse when the antibiotic injection is out of his system.

Next Tuesday, I hope to tell you about a brave little kitten who went through more than any little kitten should ever have to.

See you tomorrow for Wildlife Wednesday.

 

Peep

In a post a few weeks ago, I blogged about various health problems in the aging population here.  At the end of that post, I mentioned that although our Peep cat is not old (very young, in fact), he had a pretty serious UTI.  He received an antibiotic injection at that time and I tried to start him on some supplements for UTIs.  The problem?  Peep cannot be medicated.  I have tried a pill popper (which I have lots of success with in other cats).  I tried liquid.  Nope.  I tried hiding things in his food, but he sniffs and walks away.  At a whopping 17 pounds, Peep does whatever he wants to do.  And if he doesn’t want you messing with him, he doesn’t let it happen.  We even tried rolling him into a towel like a burrito, and he managed to tear us to shreds anyway.

Yesterday morning, I was just pouring my first cup of coffee when I could hear a cat growling loudly down the hall.  I went to investigate and it was Peep.  He was also hissing at the other cats who’d gathered around him to see what the problem was.  I tried to pet him, to comfort him, but he quickly ran away from me.  I followed him to a litter box.  He sat and sat and sat.  NOTHING came out.  It was too early to call the vet, but as soon as they were open, I was on the phone.   As I’ve said before, when NO urine comes out at all it is very serious because a complete blockage is life-threatening.

At the vet, they were able to express his bladder and they got a good sample of urine.  It was full of crystals.  So now – what to do . . .   He received another antibiotic injection.  This time he also came home with an anti-inflammatory medication that is a PILL to be given today and tomorrow (he also received an injection of the medication while at the vet).  Today’s pill is due about 10am this morning.  I’m not looking forward to it.  The other big problem is that the vet tech told me he would have to go on the special urinary tract food.  Well, I certainly cannot afford to feed that food to all of my cats.  And I don’t want to confine Peep to one room of the house.  Still trying to figure out the future here.  For a few days, however, Peep IS staying in the upstairs bathroom.  I need to know that he is able to urinate.  And I can keep him on the special food while he is isolated.  He is sad and crying, though, and that sure does break my heart.

 

In his new bed in the upstairs bathroom.

 

 

Eating some urinary tract health food.

 

It would have been nice if the cat who ended up with the UTI and the crystals was a cat you could easily medicate.  There are loads of supplements that can help with his problem, but he is not one to allow any of that.  Keep your fingers crossed for me, will you?

 

Cynthia – THANK YOU.

June – THANK YOU.