June 10, 2009 : 4:04 AM
David took the whole troupe of kittens to the vet Monday night, when I was in class. The group of six have ringworm, and Mipple/Maple/Mew have diarrhea. The two newbies are doing much better since David started syringe feeding them Esbilac, but they also needed a check-up. They arrived in such bad shape physically, and they were just terrified to be here, so we were worried about them crashing. Still not completely out of the woods, but on their way. Ringworm is a great big pain–we can’t really take that group of kittens out of their cage without risking giving ringworm to everyone else, including our human guests. So this crew is stuck for a while. At least they still have mom to provide comfort, as we haven’t gotten an appointment for her spay yet. Growly as ever, Nozomi is less and less amused by her captivity, as her babies grow to need her less. She’s a hard case. Our plan has been to spay then release her in the area that we found her, but the people who found her in their shed have refused to provide food. They said that they had never seen her before, and it’s certainly possible that she is feeding someplace else, as she is in reasonable health and produced 6 healthy kittens. Not likely to have been abandoned because it’s hard to imagine someone being able to pick her up, with her temperament–more likely to be eating outside someones house. But, which house and where…we don’t know. We’ll try asking around again. Most feeders try to keep a low profile, so they are often hard to pinpoint. Undoubtedly she would be happiest returning to a location that is familiar to her, but of course we want to be sure that she’ll be cared for on a regular basis.
The vet took some pictures of all of the kittens, including those he’s keeping at his clinic. David said that Chobi fits in nicely with his new group, and is already putting on weight! He was a lonely boy here, in a cage by himself, so it’s good to hear he’s found some friends. Picture pages…
Nozomi’s kittens
05/08/09 group
Mii-chan’s kittens
Comments
June 10, 2009 at 10:01 AM
posted by: japancatnet
Yes, tea tree oil and I are well aquainted! I’ve taken to dumping lots of drops in the bath everytime, just as an ongoing preventative measure! Many of the kittens coming in have ringworm, and compromised immune systems to boot. It can take a while for the poor things to recover, and in the meantime they still need lots of attention. I guess a little itching is a small price to pay for the healthy happy well-adjusted fluff balls that they eventually become. Although I may need someone to remind me of that, when I’m the one doing the itching!
June 10, 2009 at 6:22 AM
posted by: catmominme
Ah yes, ringworm! I rescued a 3-4 month old kitten once who was dehydrated, starving and had a case of ringworm. The poor kitten was all by himself in my bathroom for over a month for recovery.
I took 2 showers a day and changed my clothes as often so that my other 2 cats and the people in my house wouldn’t catch it. I was successful thank God, but I know others who weren’t so lucky.
I used alot of tea tree oil on myself (in body and face wash) and it probably helped alot.
Lucius Cornelius is now a healthy happy well-adjusted 4 year old fluff ball! 
Good Luck!!!