Sorry for the delay in this weeks newsletter, it has
been a squirrely week. My computer got a virus
(yes I had a virus program on there, apparently
not enough :( ) so that put me behind on everything.
Finally got that taken care of, now playing catch up.
I hope everyone’s weather has improved! Our has been
so confused. It was 70 degrees, and in 5 minutes a
cold front came in and the temperature literally dropped
by 30 degrees and it started sleeting. Crazy weather!
Next weekend is open house! It will be a busy
week with lots of visitors coming in from
out of state. We are having a special award
banquet after open house so it should be a fun
day!
Newsletter 3/7/2015
Here is our open house schedule for the next few months.
We do have the guest house available for visitors.
Just email alana@blindcatrescue.com for info.
Operation Bald
Fiona & Jill had their heads shaved bald
last Saturday for the cats. They have raised
$3600 so far for the cats! That will spay/neuter 72 homeless
cats! There is still time for you help by donating:
http://blindcatrescue.org/fundraise.htm?/operationbald
Alana will get hers done live on Ustream during open house.
Hope you can watch, if not, a video and pictures will appear
on Facebook a day or 2 after.
Video of Fiona Getting shaved.
Jill having it shaved off
Brave ladies!! You will get to see me (Alana)
get mine taken off during open house.
We hope if you have not donated yet, you will
here is the link:
http://blindcatrescue.org/fundraise.htm?/operationbald
Cat Updates
Jake has his endoscopy done. It did not find any cancers
or anything like that. That is the good news, the bad news
is his chronic kidney failure is progressing and he is now
on sub-q fluid therapy to keep him comfortable. He also
got another feeding tube. The doctor felt that it would be
easier on him and us for giving him meds and I would not have
to do sub-q on him while he has the feeding tube. We will
see how long he tolerates the feeding tube. He usually tries
his hardest to get it out after 10 days or so. The bill was
$1724.
I am going to put an article about kidney disease farther
down in the newsletter so you know what to watch for
with your cats.
Carrot is having a heck of a time with swelling in the eye socket.
We are draining it with a needle every day and he is such a
sweet baby and tolerates it. The swelling has gotten worse
and we got the eye specialist in Raleigh to move up his
appointment to 3/13. I hope they can figure out what our
vets have missed. He has had THREE surgeries on his eyes!
You can see some of the swelling on his left eye.
Mack had his radiation treatment and is doing well.
We have gotten past the worst of the handling part
and he will be safe for all to love on during open house.
CONTEST NEWS
Eagle Rare Life has told me the winner will be posted on
their website first thing in the morning on Tuesday 3/10
http://www.eaglerarelife.com/
They will also have a video regarding the winner on their
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/EagleRareBourbon
I will shoot you a fast email about the new contest
and the results of this one on Tuesday, keep an eye out
for it :)
NEW CONTEST
Petplan Pet Insurance has an annual Tournament
of Tails Challenge and the winning shelter wins
$5,000 That would help cover a few weeks of medical care.
Pet Plan insurance looks like it might be some
thing you might want to look at for your pets
https://www.facebook.com/petplan
Here is a link to their website
http://gopetplan.com
I wonder if I could get insurance on the cats
for cheaper than the $100,000 a year we spend on vet bills
for them? I will have to look at their policies :)
ANY WAY, about the contest... It apparently works like
a sports tournament. They put everyone in
a “play off” against another player. The player
with the most votes advances to the next level
and so long as you keep getting more votes against
another player, you will keep going to the top.
The player with the most votes at the end will
win $5,000 which will help with lots of vet bills.
It does look like all team players do win something
so that is nice for everyone.
Watch for a fast email from me on Tuesday
telling you how to vote and about Eagle.
Feline Kidney Disease
There are 2 kinds of kidney disease. One is acute
which is caused by trauma, toxins, those kinds of
things. The other is chronic which is more common
and that is the one that most cats have.
Let me throw a comment in here before I give you
the symptoms. When you take your cat to the vet
(heck, dogs too) Insist they take your pets blood
pressure. It is not like humans, they do not do it
automatically. If you catch hypertension soon enough
you may save your pet from serious organ damage
or blindness.
If your cat shows any of these symptoms, please
take them to your vet for a full check up including
blood work and urinalysis. (Remember, the blood
work from Mack’s checkup caught his hyperthyroid
before he even showed symptoms so it is important :)
Appetite Loss/decrease, Weight loss
(both are symptoms that Jake has, it is like he is slowly
wasting away)(And before you ask about quality of life,
he is still eating, and playing some, and is not telling us
that he is ready to go, when he says it is time, we will
kiss him goodbye and send him back to his maker, we
will not allow him to suffer)
Vomiting or diarrhea (they do not mean 1 time)
Litter box aversion
Mouth ulcers
Bad breath
Constipation
Bloody or cloudy urine
Pain when urinating
Stumbling, acting drunk
Dehydration
Change in water consumption
pain in the kidney area
Here is where they are located.
There is so much information about kidney disease,
I am going to give you a few links so you can continue
reading, This one is really excellent:
http://www.2ndchance.info/kidneycat.htm
and another one:
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/kidney-disease
With Jake, we are giving fluids, adding supplements
and keeping him comfortable for the time he has with us
He is approx 13 years old, is FIV+ and had a very hard
life before he came to us. X-rays show he has several
bullet pellets.
We are very grateful to all of our eBay sellers
and buyers! We try to feature one seller a
day on our Facebook page.
You may see all of the eBay auctions benefiting
the cats by clicking HERE
This seller has lots of catnip toys for sale
and a portion of the auction benefits the cats:
You can watch the cats LIVE every day on ROKU
(you will find us in the channel store under special
interest) or on Ustream
We do a live tour at noon EST every day but Sunday
A live tour also at 3 pm EST. Thur-Mon we also do a
tour at 10 pm EST. We do live chat Thursday night-Monday
at 6 pm and open boxes from our Amazon Wish list
Thursday - Monday at 6:30 pm We hope you will drop
in and watch!
The camera changes room each day and starts
over on Sunday. You see a different group each
day. The shelter is actually 2 buildings do the
tours are of the building the camera is in.
House 1 is Wed-Sat, House 2 is Sun-Tues.
The cats say thank you so much for all you do for the cats!
Pepper - Blind & FELV+
Colonel - FIV+
