More pics of Beans

[doolittleky]

Here are some more pics of Beans. He is such a cutie. I got his ears cleaned today and also his back nails clipped. I am going to let the vet clip the front ones. I took the pics before I cleaned his ears.


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/JamaicaJim/Beans005.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/JamaicaJim/Beans004.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/JamaicaJim/Beans006.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/JamaicaJim/Beans007.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/JamaicaJim/Beans011.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/JamaicaJim/Beans010.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/JamaicaJim/Beans009.jpg

here is one with caspurr in the pic

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/JamaicaJim/Beans019.jpg

[catmandu]

Beans look better in every Photo, and its a shame that such a Good Looking Cat does not have a Furr Ever Home.
We are praying that Beans will be someones Special Friend very soon.

[Lizzie]

Beans look better in every Photo, and its a shame that such a Good Looking Cat does not have a Furr Ever Home.
We are praying that Beans will be someones Special Friend very soon.

Gary - I adopted Beans and he has a permanent home with me as soon as we can get the trucking network to bring him to Seattle. Melissa very kindly agreed to foster him so we could get him out of the shelter as soon as possible.

Melissa - how many of the cats have visited with Beans so far? He doesn't look perturbed by the visit from Caspurr.

I'll post a request on the truckers' network today. This time I will ask for Kentucky to California as well as to Washington State. Once he's on the west coast, it will be far easier for me to reach him.

[doolittleky]

Beans hissed at Caspurr but Caspurr wasn't really paying much attention to Beans and since Caspurr is deaf he couldn't hear the hissing! LOL Beans also went in the room with Lucy and Cagney. Lucy kinda just watched him from up top the litter box. he laid right down by it and Cagney and him touched noses and Beans hissed at Cagney. I am not so sure Beans will do any jumping like QSL's cat. He does walk around some but lays down alot too. If you are putting him upstairs I would put a baby gate to block it so he won't fall down the stairs.
Melissa

[jenluckenbach]

OMG! Can it get any cuter than this????
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/JamaicaJim/Beans011.jpg

[Lizzie]

There is already a high baby gate in place to stop Ashley falling down the stairs. Does Beans walk on his back legs only? Does he walk easily or does he kind of hobble?

[doolittleky]

He mostly hobbles back and forth on his back legs kinda bent over. Sometimes he walks straight up a little but mostly so far I notice it is just to see things better . I hope you can reach Amanda and Keith to transport Beans. They are so great and I trust them to bring Beans to you safely. I am going to try and borrow a video camera and film him walking.
Melissa

[catnapper]

What an absolute sweetheart! I am in love with this little guy!

[CultureJunky]

Beans is just a great little guy, what bravery he has, he doesn't at all seem fazed by his disability. I am so glad you adopted him Lizzie, he's a total doll.

[mumpkees]

Oh Lizzie - he is a little doll! Thanks so much Melissa for fostering him while transport is worked out. Thanks for sharing the pictures with PT. /mari

[Reachoutrescue]

Beans is adorable...I am so glad he safe with you Melissa. I know he will be happy there until he goes home to Lizzie.

[kimlovescats]

How exciting for you, Lizzie! He is precious! :)

[Lizzie]

How exciting for you, Lizzie! He is precious! :)

I don't feel excited, mostly I feel concerned. I'm ready to take on the responsibility of caring for him for life, and I am looking forward to holding him in my arms, but I'm questioning myself constantly on how well I am going to take care of him. I think Jan and Mari are going to be very helpful to me, and I'm going to rely on them greatly for advice. I've been thinking about taking him to my vet for x-rays to see just what shape his arms are in. Melissa states that he doesn't like them to be touched, so I want to know if they hurt him. Or is he just aware that they are a vulnerable part of him. It seems that vets who are experienced with this type of deformity are few and far between so I've also been thinking about writing to the Best Friends Sanctuary to ask their advice on veterinary help. I've got lots of questions and concerns, but Beans just copes and enjoys his life as it is.

[doolittleky]

Lizzie, I really think you are stressing yourself out too much about Beans! He isn't that different from taking care of any "normal" cat he just gets around a little different from the others. I think you are going to worry yourself to death about him. He is doing great and adapts very quickly and effortlessly. When I said he doesn't like his front legs bothered it is not because it is painful to touch them but to try and trim his nails it would be because you have to move his little paws that are folded under. The reason I know they aren't painful to him otherwise is because he props himself up on the to sit up he moves them back and forth to try and cover his mess in the litterbox up( which is soooo cute to watch him, litter flies everywhere but where he is trying to get it to) Yesterday I called in sick mainly to take him to the vet because the night before he had some diarhhea and also to trim the front nails and to rule out ear mites in his ears. He was great at the vet! He didn't have earmites but yeast. I am treated his ears with tresaderm for 10 days. He got a shot and is on antibiotics for the diarrhea. The vet also told me to mix some of my WD in with his food. This morning his stool was already formed. The vet couldn't clip his nails without gasing him a little bit because it would have hurt him to do it. he did fine with that and the nails are clipped now so they won't catch on anything. i asked the vet if it would be a good idea for Beans since the way his front legs are deformed that he be front declawed so that he wouldn't have to go through this wover and over. She said yes that it would be best for Beans to be front declawed because of the way his legs are deformed and it would be painful to try and keep on clipping them. I told her I didn't know how you felt about declawing but I would let you know. And she said it realy would be better medically to do it for Beans. She said how good a cat he was and to let her know if the diarrhea didn't get better in 3 days which it already has. So please don't stress yourself out about Beans and his legs and you taking care of him. He is no problem to take care of I promise! In fact when he does leave to go to you I will really miss him. He is a great cat! I ahve a new pic of him from at the vet but i don't have time to post it tonight. I will tomorrow.

Melissa

[kimlovescats]

Lizzie, you will do fine and Beans will thrive in your excellent care! ;)

Hugs,
Kim

[rg_girlca]

Wow that was a great update on precious Beans, Melissa. I'm sure this will put Lizzie's mind at ease.

He is so darn adorable.

[mumpkees]

Thanks for the update on little Beans, Melissa. Sounds like all in all he is doing great! He seems to have already figured out ways to do most everything and once he is comfortable in his surroundings, I'm guessing he is going to be fine. I personally don't think I would declaw him. I know that he had to be lightly gassed to do his nails this time, but that is probably due to the fact that this probably was his first clipping. The fact that you state he uses them for things and he doesn't express pain, makes me think that there probably will be a way to manipulate his paws/arms enough to clip them. I'd worry about him being declawed and then his little arms folded up tight again not allowing his paws to heal - not to mention the intense pain he would suffer from having his toe joints lobbed off. We've not been blessed yet to care for a little one like Beans, but I imagine Jan will soon have some input in regards to this.

Thank you Melissa for taking him to see his vet and for taking such good care of him. I can well imagine how you'll miss him when he goes to his forever home. He's just too cute for words! /mari

[Anikaca77]

Beans is so special. Melissa thank you for taking care of him for now till Lizzy can get him.

He's so precious.

Melissa

[Lizzie]

Thank you for your input, Mari. I must admit that I was horrified when I read Melissa's vet's recommendation and thought to myself that I'd take him to half a dozen vets for advice plus ask Best Friends before I would be persuaded it would be in his best interests to declaw him. Do you think his arms are folded in tightly because he's protecting them, or because the muscles and tendons couldn't be exercised much and so kind of locked in place?

I am relieved that he is comfortable and enjoying his new surroundings, Melissa, and I'm sure he just loves all the cuddles you give him. Apparently he used to get up on the sofa with his first guardians. Does he get up on any furniture? I keep thinking about how I'm going to be able to get him up and down from my bed. Perhaps I'll have to have a carpeted ramp built for the side of my bed.

[orangemm]

Beans is such a brave little guy! My heart just melts looking at him and I am happy he has a wonderful foster home and a wonderful new furrever home waiting for him!

Kudos to both of you! :)

[doolittleky]

I didn't intend by posting the vet's advice to get into a delcawing debate because that really isn't the issue. Therre is a legitmate medical reason I asked the vet able this and why the vet recommended what she did. The reason the vet said it is in his best interests to declaw ONLY the front is because if you don't he WILL be in pain from his nails growing into his pads and the only way that you can clip his nails is be gassing him lightly to do it. If you try to do it any other way it hurts him to move his paws in the position you would have to move them to clip the nails. believe me we tried and you couldn't maneuver them so you could clip them without hurting him. He doesn't have any dew claws and i think the vet siad he only had three toes( I can't remember) Depending on how fast his nails grow you might have to gas him pretty often and to me that isn't good for him. Lizzie his arms are folding in because that is the way they grew. He can't unfold them, kinda like a person with cerebral palsy that can't straighten out their limbs due to the cerebral palsy. Lizzie did the first people that had him say he got up on furniture by himself? He hasn't tried anything like that and he is very confortable here. he does stand up and his hind legs when he wants me to pick him up.

[catmandu]

Bless you for taking in Beans.
He will be fine, Cats are so very adaptable, and we know that he will flourish in your home.
He will be such a Happy Cat once he has settled in.

[Lizzie]

I didn't intend to get into the declaw debate either, but I can't help my immediate reaction of distress. I knew from what you posted that you were both thinking of what was best for him, and I'm trying to do that also - long distance. I would still want several opinions before I did anything this drastic. I wonder how they have clipped his claws in the past since he's an adult and it must have been done before.

Yes, his first guardians said he used to get up on the sofa to be with them. Whether he jumped or somehow used his arms, I don't know. I'm assuming he's being a little more cautious of his movements until he feels totally at home.

[kt_luvs_kitties]

I want to add that every cat is different, even though they might have the same problems/diseases/disablements. I think that if he could exercise his arms, then you could munipulate them to clip his paws. But you cant, or it hurts him.
And I would much rather declaw him and him hurt for a week, then to have to gas him so frequently(even under slight anesthesia or gassing, things can go wrong). And I am normally anti-declaw, UNLESS there is a medical issue.
Beans will do just fine, he is a normal sweet, loving kitty, and things will work out, just give them time. Katie

[AbbyMom]

He hasn't tried anything like that and he is very confortable here. he does stand up and his hind legs when he wants me to pick him up.

Isn't that adorable?
:D