More Temba news

Sorry, no new pics for today (he's still mostly just lying there so they wouldn't be much different than from the last post anyway).

I got a call from Misty yesterday saying that he had opened one of his eyes a little - very dilated, but he does have the ability to open it. I felt bolstered by that...until I got home. Shortly after I arrived, he had these convulsions which were very scary. Misty said that they aren't seizures, but rather him trying to "right the world" b/c his senses of gravity and space are all out of whack.

Our vets (the ones Misty works with) took a look at him as well. They agreed that he does not appear to be in pain, although I'm not sure how you decide that in animals - he's not crying but he is sleeping most of the time...or at least, he is lying there with his eyes shut a lot. They also got to see the hurt side of his head, which has been the side he likes to lie on. The eye on that side is all white (he opened it during one of those "fits"), though they are hopeful that it will return to normal given time. His eardrum on that side appears ruptured, which explains why there was so much blood without puncture wounds (he'd also had blood come out of his nose). So, maybe my kitty will be half-deaf and half-blind. Oh well, we'll still love him.

Our happy moment (luckily we are getting one of these each day too): after one of his fits last night, I had cupped him in both hands so that he wouldn't keep flipping back and forth. He calmed down and, after a little while, even started PURRING!!! That's my boy!

The really promising moment...

You can see how he looked when he came home in the photo on the left - pretty much lying on his side with his head flopped backward.

This morning, after his 2:30am feeding, Temba apparently repositioned/moved himself (we didn't see him actually move, just woke up to him lying in the position in the pic above right) to where he was lying on top of the hot water bottle. This seems pretty big to us b/c that is definately not just a neurological twitch or an involuntary reaction - this was purposeful!

Temba is home

Temba came home last night. His eyes are still shut & he is pretty non-responsive, but not as vegetative as before. He actually wagged his tail more last night than when I saw him at the vet ER (I think he's glad to be home!). Since he can't move, we set him up with this big pillow-bed box so he's comfy (puppy pads are proving useful again since he can't control his bladder and all that).

He does have a feeding tube, which actually makes feeding him easier than when he was a few days old. We use syringes to attach to the feeding tube (3cc water, then 10cc Clinicare, then 5cc water) and he gets fed every 4 hours (when we 1st got him, it was every 2-3hrs so this is actually a luxury!).

We're obviously keeping the dogs well away from him, although we did let Boulder stay in the room...until he tried to jump into the box with Temba! Just wanted to snuggle, I suppose. Shelby has been acting a bit depressed lately & has chewed a hot spot onto one of her legs. We know she didn't mean it, but I think she still feels like crap.

Temba's progress (or lack of it)

I got to see my little guy last night. It was very hard. He's pretty non-responsive, lying on his side with his head tilted back & eyes shut. The nurse said he prefers to stay that way. If you move him a little, he squirms just a tiny bit & gives a sad wimper. I blew air on his ear & it twitched, but his paws are curled and don't respond much to touch. The vets said he unfortunately hasn't made any new progress since making it through that first night (which was a big deal). They are sending him home with us today with a feeding tube b/c his gag/swallow reflex isn't great & there is nothing more they can do for him that we can't.

The only glimmer of hope is that he started wagging his tail when I was talking to him. The nurse said it could just be neurological, but cats don't wag their tail like Temba does - he grew up hanging around our other dog Tasha & picked up her dog-style tail wag (so it goes back&forth a lot, not the little slow twitch most cats do).The vets said he could improve in 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, or never. I guess we're hoping for a miracle.

As long as he's not in pain, I'm not giving up. I think he is in there & just needs a little more time. He's already proven what a fighter he is - nobody thought he would make it when we took him in at a couple days old, but look at how he thrived. Fingers crossed and prayers being said!

Trying to stay calm

I have Temba's favorite toy (right) with me at work. Just trying to stay connected to him, I guess. I got him this little purple cow the day Misty brought him home. At first, it was bigger than he was &, as hoped, he slept on it like a littermate. When he got older, he started carrying it around with him like a security blanket. He will still attack it & play with it, and then carry it to his "den" under our bed.

Needing prayers & vibes for Temba

Last night, around 5pm, Misty was feeding the dogs. Temba had been hiding & wanted to play, so he jumped out at Shelby while she was eating. For the 1st time in her life, she decided to be food aggressive (or, rather to be aggressive period) and she bit him. ON the head. Misty got him to the vet ER as fast as she could & I met her there. They haven't let me see him yet, but claim he is doing better. They hadn't expected him to make it through the night. He has a concussion, lacerations, a possible broken jaw. He was convulsing immediately after it happened & then stopped breathing - Misty had to give mouth-to-mouth. It is still wait-and-see, mainly in regards to possible brain damage since he is so little. But he is a fighter & he's been showing some good improvement in most all areas, except his balance (he can't sit up without falling over backward). He definately needs some prayers & good wishes sent his way.

Please, no lectures. We have been as careful as we thought we needed to be to protect him. We lock him in a room seperate from the dogs (although, now that he is bigger, we've been letting the adult cat w/no front claws, Boulder, stay with him). When he is allowed out with the dogs, we keep a close eye & yell at either him or the dogs to be careful. Neither dog has shown any aggression with Tasha acting almost motherly & Shelby having never even so much as chased a squirrel or rabbitt. It was a freak accident & I just really hope it isn't a fatal one. I don't know if I could handle that. He's my baby.

The vets said I may get to visit (i.e. see him through glass, maybe pet him twice) tonight if they aren't too busy. He needs to know I'm there. I've been with him since before he could open his eyes and he definately responds to me differently than anyone else - he comes when I call, greets me at the front door, allows me to nuzzle him close to my face w/o biting/clawing it like he does with others, etc. I'm mom & a baby needs to know mom is rooting for him.

Please keep us in your thoughts today.

One wall of the Pet Room (yes, we got an extra bedroom for the pets). We built the cat playground on the left by ourselves. It has a tunnel (red), a hanging aluminum foil roll that Temba likes to bat around, and 2 shelves (brown, luxurious faux fur). It is hard to see from this angle, but the top shelf is a half-circle. The bow has 2 bells on it, which Boulder likes to ring to announce he has used the litterbox (apparently, we are the maids).

We still have to add sissal rope around the posts and plan to criss-cross more wood across the 2 posts for the high shelf to make it more stable, but not too bad, eh?

Then, of course, is a normal cat condo and finally, all the way to the right, is Tasha's window setup (bed + pillow).

No need of a caption here: Temba and Boulder 

Hi Blue Eyes! 

Temba is so in love with Tasha - here he is hugging her tail in his sleep 

Happy Friday!

I love this song and it keeps going through my head today...

"Hey man, you don't know what you're missing
You count your curses and forget about your blessings
Don't you think you should learn a little lesson
What are you waiting for?

Hey man, what makes you so special?
Can't seem to find the angels for the devils
Don't you think that if you learned to love a little
You'd live a whole lot more?

Let it Go
Let it Go
This is smaller than you know
No bigger than a pebble lying on a gravel road
Let it Go
Let it Go
Got to leave it all behind you
Give the sun a chance to find you
Let it Go"

-"Let it Go" by Great Big Sea (see my links)

There is another verse to the song, but these are the lines that stick with me. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Look how much nicer Temba eats now! 

Look at that cute mug - who can resist? Don't know if you can tell in this photo, but Temba is getting a little bit of white fur under his chin. 

We have a bed! A real bed! No more air mattress on the floor...thank you IKEA!!!! 

Adoptathon Success!

Misty and I have been volunteering at the Harford County Humane Society and there was an adoptathon at the local mall this weekend. Misty got paired with a dog to try to get him adopted (walk him around the store, etc.) and I got paired with the cats/kittens (since I'm not allergic). We had some great success - 4 dogs (1 of them the one Misty was showing off), 2 adult cats, and 4 kittens were adopted. Yay for happy homes!!

Temba = Trouble

I have a fun job for this afternoon. Misty and I need a new bed. Actually, we could use A bed, but it will no doubt be another air mattress from Dick's Sporting Goods (which features double-chamber ones for $30 so you are at least at a normal bed height). Sucks to be poor sometimes. 'Course it could be that we spoil the pets too much - I know at least 1 of the dog beds (and there's at least 1 in each room) cost more than our bed. But how can we refuse? They're just so darn cute! ;-]

So, why do we need a new bed (aka air mattress), you ask? Well, Temba has learned to CLIMB and he likes to show off this new skill everywhere. He is also incredibly fast for such a little thing...and he has those little kitty claws. We noticed last night that we were slowly sinking to the ground (bums were touching by this AM). Somehow, he must have snuck in and laid waste to the bed. Claws will be re-trimmed tonight.

I call this Temba's Halloween Pose (look at that arch!) 

This is the most fun yet! 

Sleepy Pals 

TEMBA'S NEW PAD - Temba out-grew the carrier + case of paper thing I'd made for him, so this is his replacement. The box is fairly large and we taped the flaps up so he won't be able to jump out. You can see that the carrier is still attached on the right; we close it so he can't get out at night, but leave it open during the day (he likes to get in when he naps...it's his comfort place with his toy and bed that we've had him laying on since he came). To the far left, you can see a small litter area since he can't yet make it through the night without an accident. He has a few toys to play with and food/water. So far, he seems to like the added room. 

Yes, I am just like those parents that take a photo of their kid on the potty...here is Temba making me proud. ;-] 

Litter Training

So, we've been thinking that our little Temba is a bit of a defective kitten. Not that we love him any less b/c of it, but he seems to have more trouble than your average kitty at what are supposed to be instinctual things. Case in point: litter training. Everything we've read states that kittens have an instinct to use the litter box (how a plastic container filled with gray pebbles makes a wild cat instinctively want to go pee is anybody's guess). Not so much with our little guy. He plays in it well enough, sending flakes everywhere, but then he takes a poo in the 2nd chamber of his "extendo-carrier".

We have determined that part of the problem may be the litter. We've put "Yesterday's News" in his litter box b/c I'd been warned that kittens might ingest regular clumping litter, which will then clump up inside their little tummies causing all kinds of problems. Yesterday, we started putting him in Boulder's regular-litter litter box and we finally had success last night. Temba pooed in the litter box! Yippeee!!! He didn't cover it up though, but we'll work on that.

This morning, I awoke to the stench of poo in his carrier (luckily we bought puppy-pads so he is no longer defecating on good hand towels). I took him out and he hop-ran to Boulder's litter box where he took a piss. Yay, my boy is finally getting it. And, note to myself, he is apparently not a fan of Yesterday's News.