World's Tiniest Frog

I am intrigued by this frog, the Paedophryne amauensis. Have a look at this article:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16491477


They have a great picture showing the frog sitting on a dime! I wondered how in the world they found these things but that is explained in the article. I'd love to be the one who found something like this.


My family has always been interested in archeology, probably influenced by my mom's interest in Egyptology. Well, finding new species is a little like archeology, looking for hidden treasures. Kind of like a mystery to solve, too. Once you find something you have to find a way to explain its existence and meaning. That's just so cool!

Kittens with personalities

B.W., Spot, Tortie, Scotty

Sparks with Tortie and Spot

Ever conscious that all kittens need early socialization to help them learn how to function in a world filled with humans I regularly visited the kittens from day one. At first I just talked to them so they’d recognize my voice later but when I judged that the mothers would allow it I reached in and touched them several times a day. I never trusted the mothers. Instead I fashioned a shield of sorts out of a box. I left the bottom and one side open and lowered the open bottom over the kittens blocking mamma kitty from my hand. The only time the mothers had any complaint about this method was when I started to pick up the kittens and they would “mew”.

Even before their eyes opened the kittens were developing unique personalities. Taylor, for instance, hissed every time she heard my voice. When I touched her she even spat at me – before her eyes were open! Scotty was the most outgoing of his litter coming forward on his own toward my voice.

Taylor-terror

When it came time for their eyes to open it seemed like it happened in an instant. First I noticed Spotty’s eyes, just a slit but opening just the same. Next came B.W. and Scotty. Gaia was a little harder to tell because she liked to hide in her mother’s fur. As soon as their eyes were completely opened Tourmalina’s kittens eyes seemed to just pop open. And Taylor’s tirades continued.

Scotty's temporarily folded ear

This is when the names started coming. First it was Spotty and B.W., obvious names for black and white kittens. They were only temporary names, after all. Taylor’s name just came to me. I guess it was that mysterious connection again. I kept calling her Taylor Dane for some reason. When Scotty’s ears suddenly folded one day, he had his name, a nod to the Scottish Fold breed.

His tortoiseshell sister already had a home waiting for her so I didn’t even bother giving her a very imaginative name. I simply called her Tortie. She and I never did really have any type of a connection at all. Perhaps it was because we both knew where she would be going. My home was simply a kind of kindergarten for her.

Trucker's first venture out of the nest

It wasn’t long after their eyes opened that they started leaving the nest. One of the red tabbies came barreling out of his nest but then turned around and slipped back in. He wasn’t quite that brave yet. But a short time later he did it again. This time he came all the way to the door of the cage. He was truckin’ so I called him Trucker. Trinket, the brown-patched tabby, was next. She meandered about the cage and found the water bowl. She wasn’t interested in me at all. Taylor took charge and quickly came out of the cage toward me. She climbed up on my legs and made herself at home telling me all about her day. She was a talker just like a Siamese but with long hair.

The other two red tabbies weren’t interested in anything outside their nest. Finally I decided to pull them out myself and get them introduced to being held. One turned out to be a female, a surprise since most red tabbies are male. I thought Tinkerbell would suit her. Then, since all of the others in that litter had names starting with “Ts” I stuck the last red tabby with the moniker of Tweety Pie. I hoped that he turned out to be a sweetie. I received an email from a retired English professor (ironically one of my instructors from the past) that she wanted a red tabby female, so Tinkerbell was tentatively spoken for.

Soon the room was full of kitten bodies that at first stumbled about investigating their world. They quickly developed their sense of balance and made the room their own. Meanwhile the mother cats grew accustomed to the regular routine and gave me no trouble. As I cleaned their litter pans they stayed at the opposite end of the cage. When I fed them they waited until the cage door was closed to attack the food. We had a great arrangement.

Next time I’ll tell you what it was like to have 9 kittens running around a single small room and two wild mothers who cooperated while retaining their wildness. For now just remember that if you have kittens that need homes:

1.     Socialize them early

2.     Begin looking for homes as soon as possible

3.     Use photos – they really influence the soft-hearted

Outgrowing the nest

Kittens, kittens, kittens......................and kittens

Tourmalina

Sparks

 In addition to the senior citizens in my household I also have the two feral cats, Sparks and Tourmalina (somewhere around 5-6 years old), and four of their progeny (now almost 4 years old). How did this happen? I ask myself that question every day.

Beauty Queen Ozma

It started one winter night when I spied a young tortoiseshell cat (Tourmalina) outside my garage. I had just lost my sweet Ozma rather suddenly in dramatic, heart-breaking fashion. This new girl was strangely colored. Ozma was also a tortoiseshell but she had a gold splash on her face mostly on one side. The new girl had a gold splash on the opposite side. It was spooky.

Then I started noticing other cats showing up, four total. Even though I couldn’t get close to any of them I could tell that two were females and two were males. The females were this tortoiseshell and a calico (Sparks) and the black and white bicolored males were “well developed” and obviously boys. I also noticed that one of my neighbors had started putting food out on her stoop.

I’ve worked with feral cats before and hated the thought that these cats might start their own colony at any time so I determined to do the right thing. Eventually I caught all of the cats using a humane trap. The males I had neutered, vaccinated and then released them again. I had no intention of keeping any of them (famous last words, right?). Unfortunately the females were already pregnant. After much consternation I decided to let them have their kittens and find homes for them afterward. I would then have the females spayed, vaccinated and release them too.

Sparks was first. I set up a large cage with all the accouterments and waited only a day before she gave birth. The very first kitten came out head first, his black nose shining amid the rest of his white coat. Before she’d even cleaned him up completely I knew I’d be keeping him (Mulberry Spot). I really didn’t need any more cats, what was I thinking???

Sparks and her brood, 4 days old

The second kitten was another black and white. How could I pass up a pair like that? Of course I kept him too (B.W. Huckleberry). The third and fourth kittens came out rather quickly so I’m not sure which was first but one was a tortoiseshell (Gaia) and the other was a brown mackerel tabby and white (Scotty/Toby, I’ll explain later). I gave Sparks a day to recover then I started spending a lot of time in the room with them, talking to them and eventually petting the kittens all in an effort to make sure they would be socialized from the start.

Next came Tourmalina. She was the last to step into my trap at a time when I’d almost given up hope of ever catching her. Luckily I had one more cage though I had to run out and buy the supplies to make a floor for it. Like Sparks, Tourmalina took only a day or two before she too gave birth. It was quite a sight; this little ex-bedroom had become a temporary cattery for two wild cats. The two cages were large enough that they took up most of the space in the room.

Tourmalina's brood, 1 day old

Tourmalina’s litter began with what appeared to be a white kitten (Taylor) but right from the start I didn’t believe it would be white. I grew up with Siamese cats and knew that they started out white/cream but then in a week or more their points slowly fade in. I can’t tell you why but I was sure that’s what would happen with this kitten. She was followed by one red tabby, then two and finally a third red tabby (Strawberry, Gooseberry and Tinkerbell). I thought she was done so I moved over to Sparks’ kittens to take more pictures and give Tourmalina some privacy to clean up her babies. But when I glanced back her way I saw another kitten; a brown patched tabby (Trinket). Don’t ask me why, I just knew she would be patched even though none of her cream/red coloring was showing yet. I just seemed to have some sort of connection with those kittens.

Most importantly I immediately went online and spread the word to everyone I knew as well as on the website at work that I had kittens that needed homes in a few weeks. I am proud to say I had several homes lined up for some of the kittens before their eyes were even open.

I spent the next many weeks getting to know the kittens and their mothers and enjoying the time I had with them. I just figured that I might never again have kittens in my life so I might as well have as much fun with these babies as I could. Even more fun was the fact that I had my first digital camera during this time so I snapped zillions of pictures as they were born and as they grew.

Mulberry Spot

I’ll tell you more about the kittens in another post. Stay tuned to meet the berries!

Tourmalina

Well, tonight I finally managed to get Tourmalina, the other "feral" cat, into a carrier. It wasn't easy but it's done. I first trapped her in the bathroom then spent at least 1/2 hour in there doing everything I could to convince her that the inside of the carrier really wasn't that scary.

Meanwhile outside the bathroom door I could hear the whining of the dog and scratches from the other cats. Everyone was curious about the noises coming from the bathroom. Given that Tourmalina was mewing quite a lot, I'm guessing that Blizzard (the dog) had a little of his protective side pushing him. He doesn't like it when the cats "disagree" and usually tries to break it up. This time he couldn't because the door was shut.

So, hopefully, tomorrow Dr. Tammy will be able to fit Tourmalina into her schedule. She'll need to be sedated before receiving her vaccinations and a good physical just like Sparks did a few weeks ago. Wish us luck!

Good News!

It took a Federal judge to bring Snickers the service dog back to his owner, James Sak but at least they are together again. It’s only a temporary injunction so the city has the right to appeal. Hopefully they will see the light and drop this ridiculous Breed Specific Legislation.

Read more about it at:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45807018/ns/today-good_news/#.Tv10GUpZaHl

Mewdy Blue

Mewdy Blue

Today Mewdy Blue my 14-year old blue shorthair (Bluebird’s brother) took a trip to the veterinarian. He is so funny when it comes to car rides; he always gets carsick. That’s not what’s funny. Today, he started vomiting as soon as I put his harness on!

We used to go for walks all the time and he just loved it. He’s such a ham he loves the attention he gets and he loves showing off but most of all I think he likes the feeling of being outside. That’s the only way I’ll let him out though. It's been a while since we went for a walk so now he just associates his harness with car rides. No fun.

This time he was visiting Dr. Tammy because he hasn’t been eating well and is a little lethargic. When I say he is sleeping all the time I’m aware that, yes, he’s a cat and that’s what cats do. But that’s not like him. Mewdy Blue is fairly active normally.

He really wasn’t lethargic though when we started trying to draw blood. Even before the needle came out he knew something was up and started wiggling and struggling. Luckily we did manage to get enough blood for the chemistries. The most remarkable finding from the labwork showed that he had some high levels of the liver markers and his cholesterol.

A high cholesterol can indicate many things: hypothyroidism, diabetes, kidney disease and hepatic lipidosis. Well, his glucose and his kidney values were normal so we are leaning toward the hepatic lipidosis right now. After all, he hasn’t been eating normally and his ALT (liver) value was a little high. Hepatic lipidosis, also known as fatty liver disease, is seen in cats that don’t eat for several days. The body starts sending fat to the liver to develop fuel but the liver doesn’t process fats very well and the liver cells (hepatocytes) start to store the fat. This then leads to liver failure. Fatty liver disease must be treated as quickly as possible.

Why doesn't the Gentle Doctor have any cats?

So my job now is to get him eating again and give him fluids to help wash out any toxins. I also need to isolate him so I can determine FOR SURE whether he has diarrhea or not. I have seen him having normal feces but that doesn’t mean he always does. Tomorrow he will spend the day in a cage. He will be angry by the time I let him out but at least I’ll know the truth. As for his eating habits, he is normally on canned D/D duck for a food sensitivity. Dr. Tammy, however, suggests that he might be getting tired of the same food all the time so she sent us home with some cans of Royal Canin canned rabbit.

Tonight I was barely able to get the food into his bowl before he was devouring it! So I guess that answers that question. I gave him fluids later and he doesn’t seem upset about that so we’ll be fine tonight. 

When you have a multi-pet household the fun just never ends!

Pet Hospice

Bluebird in better days

Though the practice has been around for a long time most people don’t understand what pet hospice is. This is one article about the practice:

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111227/NEWS01/312270033/Animal-hospice-care-lets-owners-say-goodbye-pets-home

However, I don’t want anyone to believe that hospice is only about helping a pet to die but rather it is caring for a pet in the home; focusing on palliative care rather than curative; giving your pet that last little bit of dignity. In essence pet hospice is a way to keep the pet at home, feeling little to no pain and getting all the attention and comfort from family as he fades due to a terminal illness or injury.

I had to face this reality when my cat, Lando Calrissian, became seriously ill with mast cell leukemia. At first he only had the occasional mast cell on his skin that were easily and completely removed. Unfortunately his disease progressed to the visceral form where mast cell tumors formed on his internal organs such as his spleen and liver. This stage of the disease is treatable but in most cases not curable. Lando’s surgeon removed what tumors she could then we started him on chemotherapy. From there on my job was to pay attention to Lando’s demeanor and make sure he wasn’t suffering in any way.

Lando as a youngster

Up to his very last day 19-year old Lando remained the head of my cat household. With only a slight grunt he put all the other cats in their places. But that last day I think we both knew it was over. He did not seem to suffer, he ate and drank normally but he wanted something. I don’t even think he knew what it was he wanted he just kept looking for something; something that was just out of reach. He wandered the house determinedly. I took him outside in the sunshine and he took off toward the west. At one point he finally seemed worn out so I took him back inside and held him for the rest of the evening. Sometime during the night he hid himself away in a closet and passed away quietly.

I happily gave Lando that extra time at home and would do it again. In fact, I have done so several times with other cats. On Bluebird’s last night my veterinarian gave me some pain killers that I was able to administer during the night so that Bluebird could be comfortable until I could face facts. Most of that night she slept peacefully in her bed on my lap. I appreciate that little extra time with my sweet girl.

If at some point you face the dilemma of making major choices about your pet’s life please discuss the possibility of hospice care. It just may be that you can spend a little extra time with your pet at home rather than leave him at the hospital. Even if this is not an option and euthanasia is inevitable ask your veterinarian about home euthanasia. Not all veterinarians perform this service but some do. Perhaps your veterinarian can suggest someone.

Effie in her last days

It is not pleasant to think about the final days of our pets but it is inevitable. Our pets’ lives are shorter than ours so we must face up to the fact and make life as comfortable for our pets as we possibly can for as long as we can.