Cats On and Cats Off Your Prayer List

Whaler the cat, an enormous Siamese rescue cat, is quite a guy even though he really doesn't like flash cameras (front of photo, Kiki is behind).

Several months ago I asked for prayers for him as he was terribly ill. Well, you can STOP those now! He is eating everything in sight these days.

Whaler's Story

Whaler came in from the Upland, CA shelter extremely obese (25 lbs) and quite ill. While his blood work did not show hepatic lipidosis as a certainty, his ALT values were just at the top edge of normal.

He was obviously not well, but we were not able to pinpoint the exact problem, and the stress of being lost/abandoned and then put in a shelter, then moved twice certainly didn't help. Cats stress very easily.

After about a week, having had his blood work done and having also visited my vet, he was still not eating well and I was beginning to really worry. A 25 lb. cat needs a LOT of calories to maintain health and proper organ function and it was clear to me he wasn't eating enough to do that. Losing too much weight quickly in a cat--especially from calorie loss--sends red flags through cat rescuers. It is usually the beginning of hepatic lipidosis and it can often also mean pancreatitis. Both are quite serious, the former much easier to diagnose and treat than the latter.

So... we started force feeding to calories needed to weight. At first, Whaler would throw up, so we backed up until we found an amount he could digest (which was tiny for him) and gave him this amount about every 1/2 hour for the first 48 hours, then increased that amount as he could tolerate it reducing feeding frequency. This was NOT easy given his enormous size, but this is not the time to even think about weight loss strategy.

After 11 weeks, and multiple daily offerings of food, he finally chose to eat fried chicken (skin removed) but would not eat ANY type of cat food... believe me, we tried, and tried, and tried.

So, chicken it was along with felovite to assure he was getting proper vitamins and minerals. He would eat the equivalent of about a chicken thigh daily (I turned to baking them, no salt or spice at all).

The other cats, meanwhile, were eating wet food, largely Wellness chicken formula which is a superior food, and for the cats not used to wet yet, Wellness dry and cooked chicken (first we give them cooked, then we cook it less and less to the point where they are getting in near raw... then they either gravitate to raw or to canned. This also requires vitamins during the transition).

Two cats were eating a low calorie formula (different brand) and one eats entirely raw which was the fix for this particular cat's IBD problem. Dry food was left out, but few were eating it.

Then one day, out of the blue, Whaler began eating Wellness canned food. Yeah! We kept up (and still give him) chicken.

Soon after that, I caught him munching on some dry food... not good.

Now, about one month or so later, Whaler will eat anything, anywhere, any time.... and has turned into a little food thief! We cannot leave ANY food out (or the oinker eats it) regardless of type. Whaler now weighs 15 lbs. 2 oz. and still needs to slowly loose about 3-4 more pounds. He still has trouble grooming parts of his body due to weight, but has become more active, which is great. Whaler has been with us now almost six months and while he likes to chase one of the smaller rescue doggies and tries to bat him, he is a wonderful cat.

We would release Whaler to a good, experienced furrever home but the problem is there are so few homes these days for these kinds of cats given the economic environment and the absolute wave of all domestics going into shelters and packed rescues. We have been at our permit limit (15 cats, 10 dogs) for almost a year now and get about 20 requests/day to take in animals, in some cases, the entire household of animals from cats to rats to birds, turtles and bunnies. It is a tragedy.

Whaler may be with us for a long time, sadly. I only say sadly because he really could use a quiet and stable home of his own. Rescues were not designed to be permanent homes, and I actually have animals of my own, as well (behavioral rescue rejects, or animals that have so many health problems they are better off here and are treated as family).

If you have neighbors who are losing their homes, PLEASE talk to them about finding a place for the animal right away. It can take a very long time. They must NOT wait to the last minute or, I can tell you from experience, the animals are often abandoned at the home (so check the home, please, after they leave), dropped off in some remote location (we get a lot of that here), or end up at shelters which are overcrowded where, by law, they only have 72 hours to find a new home.

There are rescues for just about everything: Reptiles and turtles, all kinds of amphibians, pocket pets (rats, mice, hamsters etc.), all kinds of avians, dogs, cats, exotics and others. But it takes time.

These little animals cannot help themselves, they need your help, too!

Chuck and Spencer

Here is a picture of Spencer (the long haired orange) and his brother, Chuck. Both have hepatic lipidosis, are on appetite stimulants (which may or may not work), and are being force fed and given vitamins. Spencer will eat a small amount on his own now. Chuck will eat nothing on his own. Sigh.

They were abandoned in a mobile home park when the family left. They just tossed them outside and took off. A kind neighbor took them in, but got caught with more than one cat (her allowable there). She works at the local feed store so asked me to take them.

Bottom line: You can take Whaler off your prayer list, but please put both Chuck and Spenser on it. I can do all the medical parts of this, but need your additional help in the prayer department!

Because they have human names, you can even put them on your church's prayer lists and increase the prayers!

Sending Out An SOS: What's Wrong With This Picture?

Episcopalians across the United States have voiced wonder at just how far a Diocean Bishop of the church can go when deciding to abandon the church. For a Bishop to just move on without the church assets seems to be a concept of the past as Bishop David Shofield (former Bishop of the San Joaquin Diocese in California) clearly shows.

Shofield departed (on paper only). After front-loading the politics for a couple decades, his final act was to stuff church property and financial assets--the whole shebang--into his lunch box and scamper off to the Province of the Argentina-based Southern Cone where he is free to discriminate against women and gays. With the new requirements of GAFCON's FOCA doctrine (which the So. Cone adopted), the requirement for use of the 1662 prayer book is a little post note but given the fracas over the 1979 Prayer Book (U.S.), it exemplifies just how far back this problem goes.

To say this did not go over well with faithful Episcopalians in the Diocese of San Joaquin is an understatement. But what seemed to perplex so many, there and elsewhere, is why nothing was done to prevent the act from occurring in the first place. It was hardly like the train light could not be seen from the other end of the tunnel.

Members of Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, however, have reacted with vigor in protecting their church's assets from "quitter" Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan who is facing charges of abandonment this fall by the U.S. House of Bishops. Calvary has been pro-actively protecting their church for several years in various ways including through the court. Duncan's words and actions have made his intentions to exit TEC with the church assets quite clear.

There is a certain love, respect and brotherhood among the Bishops of TEC, no question. One can only wonder, though, if that love and brotherhood has rendered many a diocese helpless while the church and the Title IV Review Committee send coded messages that lay members can hardly understand. The Committee agreed that Duncan had formally abandoned the church, but did not give Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori their 3-vote nod to inhibit. To inhibit Duncan would have prevented more collateral damage.

Given his plan of action to depart which is hardly a secret, and the finding he had abandoned the church by the Title IV Committee, many of us have to wonder WHY the Bishop is allowed to continue in his role (inhibition would have stopped this) until that finding of abandonment is voted upon by the House of Bishops. Are the lay people in the pews so unimportant that they deserve to be caught in the middle like this? This from a church which alleges to value their lay members and their participation in Episcopal process? One can only wonder.

Read more here.

And Then There Were 25

I have this long ago memory of a beautiful Siamese cat given to me by my Aunt Barbara for Christmas. I remember the mystery and thrill. But the cat vanished. I was really quite young, probably 2.5 years old. But I remember getting the cat for Christmas quite well. I have asked and asked my mother what happened to the cat. Silence.

As it turned out, I was allergic to cats, causing me a storm of allergy symptoms including rash, severe asthma, and associated allergic reactions. I couldn't even walk into a home with a cat, let alone touch one. Then came the amazing allergy shots! I lined up with kids at the doc, got my shots for almost everything on the planet, and rode my bike home for another day of baseball in the street and hide-and-go-seek.

I am almost 55 now and have been in the dog and cat rescue world (before it was called that!) for three decades. Five years ago, I was granted a permit for 10 dogs and 15 cats in an area otherwise zoned for three animals, regardless of how many of which. That the fees for this permit have increased 300% over this five-year time is the subject for another post, but suffice it to say that this does stick in my craw.

Lots of folks have odd ideas about what we in rescue actually "do". So, this post is dedicated to those of you that don't know, and might want to. Rescue is a broad term, and we are a diverse bunch with a broad spectrum of approaches, specialties and interests. As a group, we are anything but alike.

In my particular case, I own four dogs and two cats.... well, maybe three cats. Everything else with three or four legs is a rescue. Some times two-legged winged things are here until they can go to the proper rescue or wildlife rehab.

All of my own dogs are either rescue rejects or those who have severe medical issues and are not placeable: The unsocialized (but never biters, I do not take biters... preferring to take the nice dogs, killed by the dozens everyday only because there are just too many), the terminally ill or those who are statistically likely to be terminal. I also have owned, and will again own, senior dogs which find themselves unadoptable at shelters due to nothing other than age. These seniors enter and finish their lives here. I also always try to have dogs/cats in the rescues from dying owners. I have two now, both cats.

I have just so much "space" so many of all of these types, if not taken by other rescues, are killed. Some are killed brutally under the color of tax-funded animal "shelters" and/or contract SPCAs etc. There are kinder ways to kill animals, and not. But kill is the operative and appropriate word.

This time of year, spring/summer, we are loaded to the gills. Our numbers double almost instantly in February from our normal downseason 12 to over double that. Why? Because, in normal years, this is puppy and kitten "season". The irresponsible end up shoving their animal babies into shelters, abandoning them, or advertising them for homes at much too young an age. It is a national tragedy. But this is not a normal year. It's much worse. Many read about foreclosure animals, but we in rescue are dealing with them.

In one instance--one that is still in play--the family lost their home and moved back to South Dakota leaving behind their three unspayed/unneutered cats. Those three cats have now turned into almost 25. We have taken in the non-ferals, fully vetted them, and many now have homes, the remainder are up for adoption. But over a dozen still remain, feral now, with kittens that will also be feral if we cannot find and humanely trap them at an age young enough to tame. The moms and dads will be trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated and given any additional needed vetting, then re-released into the neighborhood under the care of a neighborhood feeder as a neighborhood feral colony. TNR. Trap, neuter, release. In this case, there are three generations of cats, now, whose original owners abandoned them and left the neighborhood and rescues to pick up the pieces. They never leave money on the counter to cover the costs paid by rescues or neighbors. People dig into their pockets, hold garage sales... anything to cover the costs.

The remaining animals in our rescues are either fosters for other rescues (usually sick animals that need specific and very detailed care prior to getting well/adopted) and dogs from shelters on their literal last day... sometimes last hour. This last group of animals present highly stressed, almost always sick, sometimes fatally, usually underweight, often with long-present medical or orthopedic issues, and frequently with skin disease. If everything goes right (and thankfully it usually does), two to three months later, the dogs/cats are healthy, at or near weight, coats are returning through good nutrition, supplementation, exercise and good general care, and their stress is relieved by running around the yard with other happy dogs, or basking in a sunlit window, and being loved.

Thus, one has to ask just WHAT the original home did to so seriously alter the personality and/or health of an otherwise mentally and physically healthy animal. In two words: abuse and/or neglect. Usually, the two are tied together.

Then there are those that move and either set the cat outside (WHAT are they thinking? Cats who are not trained by their feral mothers to hunt almost never survive hunting for themselves) or leaving them, without telling anyone, inside an apartment or home with NO care and no food or water. Sometimes people get to these animals before they are critically ill or dead. Sometimes not.

I have one of these as well, a foster for a breed rescue which has cost this rescue, now, almost $1700.00 to save. But save this little nine month-old persian kitten we did, including two straight weeks of force feeding until she could/would eat on her own. This kitten will be adopted out to a loving family for about $200.00, fully vetted and healthy (and with more blood panels than you can possibly imagine!). Blossom, is a lucky one. She was found, actually, by a dog rescue who contacted the breed rescue who contacted me. It does take a village. Blossom will soon be picked up by a volunteer transporter (along with another foster cat who is now well) to go to the rescue, physically, for showing and adoption.

Sadly, these two places won't be vacant for more than 6 hours. Two new cats will come in and the saga begins anew.

I wanted to go to veterinary school. My mother used to joke that she would be my office manager because I would just give my services away. She was right. I would have. My college grades were excellent, but there was just no money to pay for four years of veterinary school on top of the years I had already attended at university. Working one's way through vet school is almost impossible. I received great grades, but that is because I was focused and I studied. And studied. And studied. I think I am about as average as anyone can be in most ways. After leaving college, I worked some very strange jobs. But as a waitress, every night I would count my tips and write a check for that exact amount to pay off my student loans. In a year or two, they were paid. And I, unfortunately, was still a waitress.

My interest in helping animals was as much a part of me as my eye color. Though I have hardened a lot, just through years of sadness I suppose, I have a lot more knowledge and experience now. Sometimes I think I just "stuff" my grief and get on with it. Then I read a rescue post for help for an extremely needy animal, and I break down and sob. There's a system to all this, I guess.

But what I believe is really going on here is that we were all intended to work in God's world for God's purposes and given gifts to enable this work. I was not born with a manual of God's desires for me, nor do I believe they are fully revealed. But they were planted in my heart and my soul. They are what I am when working at my highest purpose.

We are not all cut from the same cloth. There is too much need, and too much ground to cover for that. Instead, I believe we are all given gifts to give to enrich others of God's creation: Some in the environment, some with children, some with elders, some with animals and so on. Some are great artists that inspire, and some are thinkers, likewise. Some are in holy orders to help us through our humanness--our frailty and separation--and to encourage and help us connect with the God that made and loves us.

Rescue is frustrating work, at times, and terribly sad at others. It is extremely expensive work. I do not know of a single rescue that doesn't, at year's end, operate in the red with volunteers and directors pulling a large amount of the money needed from their own pockets. It is a labor of love, in my case. About the only thing I don't like about rescue is dealing with human beings who are irresponsible. Of course I have to do this daily. WHAT was God thinking! I am truly the last person on earth that God should have given this duty to, and one that has to ask constant forgiveness for the comments that flow from my tongue and across my mind. The joke is probably on me. This is probably the why.

But God, I am putting my foot down... no more than 25. Never. Ever. Period.

Okay, maybe once in a while...

Go here to see Kacee's slideshow, and turn up the sound; lovely music.

http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc135/canyon53/?action=view¤t=582da829.pbr