Friday, June 01, 2007 , late evening

IFAW’s tiger mosaic

Today I stumbled across an IFAW project I wasn’t aware of, the Tiger Mosaic.  It’s pretty cool—upload your photo to show your support for tiger conservation, and in the process, be part of a huge mosaic image of a tiger.  I uploaded a photo of myself with actor Camden Toy, but the photos have to go through an approval/upload process, so it isn’t live yet.  I’m quite sure that if photo could just be uploaded willy-nilly, there would be some images of a “questionable” nature included.

Unrelated to tigers, I spoke to a vet tech today, and Carlo’s vet thinks he could have panleukopenia.  I really don’t think he has the correct set of symptoms for that (i.e., he only has diarrhea, and has never had vomiting, lethargy, a yellowish-tone, etc.), but I’ve read that the disease rarely sticks an easily identified pattern, so it should not be ruled out.  I’m not sure how he could have it without his sister having it, though, as he’s had symptoms since he was born, and would have had to have contracted it from his mother.  Nevertheless, it’s good all our other cats are vaccinated, and it’s another good example of how illness could potentially run wild through a group of poorly cared for cats in a small space.  Carlo and Bunny are going to have their first set of vaccinations next week.  In deference to Carlo’s small stature, he will probably have his shots spread out and not have a vaccine “cocktail”.  He’s also going to start on a low-residue (low protein) food, as it will be easier on his intestinal lining.

Getting back to the subject of tigers (sort of) one last time, have you seen the news story about the “new breed” of cat, the Ashera?  It’s a gorgeous huge beast of a cat, but I still think it’s wrong to be inventing more cats at astronomical prices when millions and millions of cats are euthanized each year.  Not to mention all the others who are alive, but are mistreated, uncared for, unneutered, left outside, etc.  The only good thing I can say is that if you buy one of these cats, it comes spayed or neutered, and it comes with ten years of free access to a behaviorist.  Maybe, just maybe, people will attempt to keep these cats for a lifetime instead of tossing them away the first time they scratch the sofa or pee on the Oriental rug.  I doubt it, though.  I should set up the world’s first exclusive “Ashera Rescue”—I’ll take in the cats after their owners tire of them, for a minor intake fee of $11000.  I think that’s a bargain.  The cat “manufacturer”, Lifestyle Pets, is working on a “new breed of toy dog.” Oh, swell.

One last thing… does anyone read this own a pet pig?  I’ve been in love with goats for a long time, but Flippy always says, “No goats!”.  I’ve been doing some reading, and am intrigued by the idea of having a pig.  The local SPCA has one for adoption which is trained to use a doggie door and to walk on a leash.  I wonder if Flippy would notice if a pig suddenly moved in?  I could just say it was one of the big dogs wearing a costume.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/01 at 10:46 PM
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Adopt-a-Cat Month

The American Humane Association is sponsoring the month of June as “Adopt-a-Cat Month”.  In my mind, every month is Adopt-a-Cat Month, which is why I’ve got so many cats.  You’ll find more information about this event on the AHA’s website.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/01 at 08:02 PM
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Bunny and Carlo come upstairs

I’ve got an idea for an entire set of children’s books about kittens.  They’ll be based on the life stages of our fosters, and will feature titles like, “Bunny and Carlo Open Their Eyes”, “Bunny and Carlo Use the Litterbox”, and the series will wrap up with, “Bunny and Carlo Come Upstairs”.  When I foster, I keep the kittens in a downstairs bathroom that I’ve equipped with special small litterboxes, baby wipes, a baby gate, etc.  The kittens live in the bathroom exclusively until they’re about three weeks old, and then the gate comes off occasionally so they can play in the kitchen.  I then expand their territory, giving them the entire run of downstairs for a few hours each day.  The kittens don’t truly graduate from being “babies” until that special day when I bring them upstairs for the first time.  “Upstairs” has carpeting, furniture, lots of nooks and crannies, dangerous stair railings and ledges, and lots of other cats.  It’s cat pandemonium up here.

Tonight, I brought Bunny and Carlo upstairs for the very first time.  I usually do it when the cats are about six weeks old, and I’m really late with these two, but Carlo’s bowel problems delayed everything.  Letting them come upstairs gives them a chance to work on important skills like searching out a litterbox when they need one, watching television, and walking on keyboards to erase stuff.  I was pretty concerned that Carlo would have at least one accident, but he ran to the litterbox at one point and cried, sort of “asking” to be lifted into it because it’s so large.  He did the same thing about an hour later, crying and waiting for me to put him in the box.  I’m really impressed by that—I just showed him the box one time, and yet he remembered how to get back to it when he needed it.  He’s the only kitten I’ve had who’s been unable to climb up into the box himself, which is further evidence that he’s really, really small (he weighs 1 lb, 9 oz.).  I don’t know if Bunny has used the box yet, but I just don’t worry about Bunny—she’s a smart little gal.  I did lose Carlo at one point, and I was a bit worried.  I looked under both sofas, the chair, wondered if he’d gone behind the TV, and called him for about five minutes.  I eventually found him halfway downstairs, on the landing, sleeping in a basket of dirty laundry.  Neither he nor his sister seem intimidated by all the extra room they’ve suddenly got access to.

They’re about to go to bed, which will be back downstairs for now.  After a few nights of trials runs, I’ll let them try an overnighter.  I’m going to have to make a litterbox ramp for Carlo, I guess—he can get out, but can’t get in.  It’s just two more weeks until he can have some tests on his liver, and in the meantime, they really need their first set of shots.  I’ve put those off because of Carlo’s size, but they can’t be put off forever.

So, the kittens say goodnight.  And Bing says, “Kittens suck.”

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I wanted to add to last night’s entry, and mention that the book I’ve started to read is ”The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals” by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson.  I really enjoy his writing.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/01 at 12:45 AM
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