Purrchance To Dream

It was two summers ago, that the little bundle of fluff I called Ubee graced my life for a very brief period. You can read about his last night by clicking here.
The plaque below was made for me, in commemoration of Ubee, by my friend Marilyn.

Tonight, Ubee took a sudden turn for the worse.
He was walking along, then fell over. His back legs stopped working.
I picked him up, and knew that he didn't have long.
There was just too much internal damage - we'll never know from what -- but when Bessie found him, his back end never was right. He put up a valiant fight, but in the end it wasn't enough.
I got into bed and held him. He crawled up under my chin and wrapped his paws around my finger and purred one last time.
Then he went to the bridge.

Spooker was with me in bed, and Daphne is here on my feet now.
Somehow, I'll be okay.

Please say one last prayer for our little guy.
I love you, Ubee.

Ubee at peace, now.
♥

I suppose every little bit counts, right?
Well, we have achieved a tiny bit of poo.
Each time Ubee strained this afternoon, a tiny bit of poo came out. Not enough to make it into the litter, but enough for me to wipe away with a tissue. The last one, at 6:19pm, was a two-tissue.
Don't worry, I haven't started an excel spreadsheet. Yet.


He does NOT like to drink water, and the vet said to back off the Similac, so I've been forcing down a teaspoon of water every hour or so. Then, when I fed Jaz dinner - I had an idea that turned out to be brillo pads! I'd picked up a couple packs of Whiskas' normal pouch food to supplement the meager supply of Purrfectly Fish onhand at the store the other day, and as I poured a pouch out into Jaz's dish tonight, I thought "wow, there's a lot of sauce..."
Yep, I tore open another packet and spoon-fed the Ubee-woobee as much of the "sauce" as he could lick up. He didn't much care for the actual stinky goodness (he ate a few bites) but he willingly lapped up as much of the sauce as I could squeeze out. He's asleep right now, preparing for the drive home.
I'm making sure to take a pouch of the Whiskas "with sauce" home with me.

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words -- I must admit today wasn't my most optimistic day -- and for the prayers for poo. Keep praying for a BIG BM! I know it's in there, we just gotta work it out! I just have a feeling (wait, is that optimism creeping back...?) that if we can clear out his little colon, then we have a real fighting chance at life for Ubee.

I love you guys.
♥
Not The Mama

How did Ubee get into the office organizer?
I was leaning back in my chair, almost nodding off, with the little rascal asleep in my arms.
Then he crawled up my shoulder (his favorite spot) but this time kept going!
He crawled right off my shoulder into the niche on top of the stack of catalogs.
Which would have been a good spot for a nap, but he started crying again.
Now he's back in the PTU, sleeping. Ah.... hear that? Silence.
I could curl up here on the floor and go to sleep. Think if any customers came in, they would wake me up? Frankly, right now, I wouldn't care.
We've actually had about an 1/8th of a teaspoon of poo, after much straining. Keep on prayin' for poo!
♥
not the mama
♥

hello blog buddies,
not the mama here typing with one hand.
an unhappy ubee in the other
he has not pooed since saturday night

konstipation kitten
we haven't slept more than a half hour at a time
for the past two nights
try to poo
then rest
then try to poo again
he's wearing himself out
little tummy like a golfball
why won't it come out?

thank you for your generous donations for the vet bill
I fear we may have to go back
for a kitty enema
home remedies and tummy massage not working...

jaz not happy
off pouting at his neglect
same same same at home
chloe, daphne, spooker - all not happy with not the mama
paying too much attention to the little meowie thing

tired and grumpy
not the mama & ubee
both

prayin for poo here
and crying for sweet Ana
the sunshine on our faces today.

love,
not the mama & ubee
♥

Before I tell you about the trip to the V-E-T, let me update you on the rest of Sunday with Ubee, because there is GREAT news...
After I got offline yesterday, I had chores to do (mow the lawn and use the weed-eater, etc) so I was in & out of the house, still trying to keep on my Feed-Ubee-Every-Two-Hours schedule -- oh, here's a digression: remember how I asked if there was anything else I could be feeding the little guy? Several of you suggested baby food. Well, I did go to the store. I got some Whiskas' Purrfectly Fish (tuna of course!) and some kitten vitamins and some Similac. I powdered the vitamins in the mortar & pestle, then mixed the tuna & Similac --- at first, he didn't know what to do with it, but I "spoon-fed" him and he lapped it up. Since he didn't want to even lick water, the Similac was a great temporary way to get some liquids in him. Anyhow - feeding every two hours, and him napping in between, locked up in the PTU. (That's Pet Transport Unit, or Prison Transport Unit, for those of you not versed in kitty blog lingo - a cat carrier, in other words). Since there was the whole questionable leg/back-end thing, I didn't want him trying to drag himself around with his front paws and over exert himself.
Then, last night after I had dinner, I went onto the home computer, and bundled Ubee up in a towel and held him while I played Spider Solitaire. He purred and napped. Suddenly, his head snapped up and he got all wiggly. He scrambled up to my shoulder, and I was afraid he was going to slip off the back of the chair - when I realized he was pushing with his back feet!
I set him down on the carpet briefly, and he walked on all four legs!!!
Thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers - this was nothing short of a miracle, in my opinion!
We then went back into the guest room, and he walked around the bed!!! When we got into bed I was reading, and he wanted to nap and cuddle, but when he woke up, he walked around some more. Then, then next thing I knew, he slid off onto the padded bench at the foot of the bed, then slid off onto the floor.
He walked into the bathroom where the litter pan is, and started scratching in there!
I have to tell you, my face was all wet with tears of joy.
Unlike on Saturday night, when I set my alarm clock for a feeding every two hours, last night I just set it for this morning, and figured he'd wake me up if he was hungry. He did - at midnight, and at 3:30am. Both times, even though he'd fallen asleep on the bed snuggled up with me, he woke me up by meowing up at me from the floor.
So, this morning, we bundled up and went to the walk-in-V-E-T clinic. Of course, Monday morning is their busiest time. We waited for over an hour. A lady whose collie was sniffing me and wagging its tail as it went in - she came out and was crying and told me the V-E-T had put her dog to sleep! I about grabbed Ubee and ran. But they'd already drawn blood for his FEV and leukemia tests, so I cuddled Ubee and told him "Ubee all right... Ubee all right..."
We finally got called (after I watched an hour of tragic pet-rescue stories on Animal Planet in the waiting room), and Ubee was his purry self even when the tech stuck an icy thermometer up his bum!
The V-E-T came in, and cleared out his ears -- "Worst case of ear mites I've ever seen" which is what he said about Inky last winter! But the ginormous load of crap that came out of this little feller's ears! Holy crap! Like waxy charcoal briquettes! Nasty!
The good news: negative on FEV and leukemia, and NO respiratory infection, just conjunctivitis in the eyes. Which means antibiotic eyedrops instead of the bubble-gum flavored antibiotics that Inky detested (why can't they make tuna-flavored anti-biotics for kitties?). And of course the ear-mite drops.
He's only five to six weeks old, so no wormy stuff or shots ("Come back in a couple of weeks") and since the conjunctivitis isn't airborne - like the respiratory infections tend to be - I don't have to worry about Jaz or the girls at home getting sick, so long as he's kept in his PTU when the others are around for about a week.
Such a relief.
The V-E-T said after today, no more Similac, just water the Purrfectly Fish down for extra liquids. And introduce him to kitten chow in a few days. He said once he gets kibble, he'll naturally want water. He also said that since Ubee was so dehydrated when he was rescued, not to worry about little urination right now.
The great news: most of his troubles, aside from the ear mites, are from dehydration and being under-fed. The prognosis is excellent!
Now, we're back at the shop. Jazper is sunning himself in the display window. I don't think he's too thrilled to have my attention split, but he'll get used to it. And Ubee is sleeping off the V-E-T visit (and his noon feeding!) in his PTU, snuggled up in his Disney Baby blankie.
Thanks again to everyone for their comments, prayers, and good thoughts.

Several of you wanted to know how you could help, financially --if you want to help out with the V-E-T bill (since it was an unexpected expense for us at the end of the month), the best way would be a donation to my PayPal account: Morgen1967@Gmail.com -- if you prefer to send a check, you can e-mail me at that same address for my snail-mail info.

Your continued good thoughts and prayers for finding him a Forever Home will be greatly appreciated!
So, long story, I know. But happy news.
Thanks for your support - it means a LOT to all of us here @ Purrchance To Dream.
♥
Not The Mama
♥

Well, we made it through the night.
Ubee has a very bad respiratory infection, and I'm not sure but he may have been hit by a car or stepped on or something -- his back end doesn't work very well. Under the tail was all matted and filthy, and I finally got it cleared up enough to see a goody bag, so Ubee's a boy, I'm pretty sure.
I stayed in the guest room all night with him, feeding him stinky goodness every two hours. And holding him to keep him warm in between feedings. He loves to cuddle, and is quite affectionate. Sometime in the middle of the night, he was purring on my chest, and kneading my chin with his front paws. He just looked me in the eye as if to say "Thank you" and my eyes started getting all leaky.
I didn't want to feed too much at once, to make him sick - but he's kept everything down.
Since he's eating stinky goodness, should I try to supplement with anything?

He let me clean up the eye goobers this morning, so his face looks a bit better than one only a Not The Mama could love. And he actually licked his foreleg and tried to wash his face - the first time he'd attempted grooming in front of me. I know that he's re-hydrated a bit more, because his third eyelids are retracting all the way now, and his eyes themselves are a bit clearer.
This afternoon, I will try and tackle the ears - they are full of dried blood (I think from ear-mites) and as he gets stronger, he has started shaking his head.
And tomorrow is a trip to the V-E-T, to see what can be done for the little feller. While I am optimistic that he will recover, there is that back-end problem. When he finally urinated, it was thick with blood. And there has been no attempt at a bowel movement yet, but he was so starved. I thought Inky was skin & bones when she got rescued in the winter - but under the floof, this little guy is just skin and not much else.
But he has a purr as big as all outdoors.


I will keep you all up-dated.
luv,
Not The Mama
♥