Hi!

It sounds like you do a lot of what I do. Rescue/treat for illnesses etc. until well enough to be adopted out. I luckily have a small network of foster homes when the kittens start coming in by the truckload (or so it seems). I have managed to adopt out a few special needs kitties during the years doing this, but as we all know there's hardly enough homes for perfect ones. So they tend to stay with me...and I adore them. :) No epileptics yet, or diabetics, but have gone through ringworm, panleuk. outbreaks, the inevitable URIs etc.:rolleyes: The ch kitty club has a second section (right above or below the members with ch kitties stories,is another button saying jump to kitties with other disabilities. Some of my other rescues are featured there (including my much missed Willy who left me last year for R.B :( ). Glad to have you onboard here, as special needs kitties need more voices speaking for them;) Jan

Dear Jan, So so sorry about Willy. He's in a happy place now tho and can play and run with all the others. I neither have experience with diabetes and I wish my Roscoe could lose some weight as it's always a threat with these tubby kitties. It's tough tho when you have so many and some are on special foods and you turn your back for one second and there goes fatso in the food he shouldn't be in.

I do have a special needs foster kitty here tho that I'm at a loss for what to do next. I think I mentioned her on the ch kitty site altho she's not ch (you know we wander off topic there quite alot). Rizzy has no control over bowels or bladder. She's a Persian mix about 6 months old. She's been on Baytril, Amoxi with Metronitizol, Clavamox, Prednisone and Proin. Her urine gets very concentrated from staying backed up. It basically leaks out when full. I try to express her bladder but am usually not very successful as she gets po'd at me for this. We've put her on Science Diet i/d to control the volume and consistency of her poop. This has improved the constant "dribbles" everywhere. It's going to be next to impossible to find her a home because no one is going to want to put up with her dropping poop anywhere and losing control of her bladder where she sleeps. She's VERY loving and I'd hate to see her as a barn cat (in addition to the long hair not being maintained). She also WANTS to be an inside cat. Any ideas on how I can encourage someone to adopt her? I'm about to the point where I want to go get her diapers!

Welcome to PT, Val! :) I really enjoyed reading about your kitties and hope something can help your sick foster. :( Are you familiar with the raw diet? (www.felinefuture.com) One of my cats has IBD and he's on it most of the time. The "claim to fame" of the raw diet is that it restores the body (back to natural/nature type thing) so the body can heal itself. Making the food is kind of gross, but it gets easier after a while. I can do it in about 20 minutes now.

I'm Kelly, by the way. :) I belong to the 9 cats you see in my signature (plus 2 parakeets and 2 fish). Micah, the Aby, has IBD and is the one on the raw diet. We rescued him from the shelter we were volunteering at a few years ago, he was so ill when we got him. He's done wonderfully on the diet.

Anyway, nice "meeting" you and your furkids. Enjoy PT!

Val, Have you tried posting on the other Yahoo boards regarding Rizzy? There's [email protected]
(Which is a new one to me)...I'm on this one...http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Disabled-Cats-Rescue/join
and get the emails in digest form, so don't know how many other similar sites are out there. Also you may want to ask questions on this message board (great group, and very active) www.handicappedpets.com Many there are in the same boat, and may have ideas to try with Rizzy. I certainly wouldn't make her a barn cat. :( Persians are too delicate, and as you said, in need of that constnt brushing.:rolleyes: There are many diapered cats out there, but you have to be be very careful about how you diaper, and urine scalding is a big problem too. I'll bet if you post in enough places, a good home will come through for her. :) Jan

Hi, Val welcome to Pet Talk! I'm david p and I live in Pittsburgh, Pa. I'm a butler (and sometime referee) to Nikki, a 4 y.o. tuxedo kitty and Daisy, a 2 y.o. tortoiseshell kitty. I also volunteer with Cat Sense, a cat rescue organization based in Pittsburgh. Val, it seems like you have quite a furry crew living with you, and like every one elseI would like to see pictures. There's pics of my crew in my signature. To use a well worn phrase, this site is addictive!!!

Welcome to Pet Talk Val!!

You have a big fur family!!:eek:

I'm Melissa and I have one fur kid Katie.

We all look forward to getting to know you and your fur kids. Post lot's of picture!! those are my favorite threads. :)

Thanks for the suggestions. I have done some reading on the raw diet. I will check out your suggested site too. I am very concerned that it contain all the proper nutrients. It is something I have been "tossing around" in my head. Some folks with kitties with epilepsy have also found that it makes a difference.

Have also just signed up with the disabled kitty rescue site and will go to the others in just a moment. Tried the Special Needs one and lost my email (hit something by accident-hate when that happens) so I'll redo that.

Rizzy is such a playful lovebug and I just want to find her a home where someone will understand her and her disability.
Wish me luck!

Quote:

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Originally posted by val
Thanks for the suggestions. I have done some reading on the raw diet. I will check out your suggested site too. I am very concerned that it contain all the proper nutrients. It is something I have been "tossing around" in my head. Some folks with kitties with epilepsy have also found that it makes a difference.

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I was concerned with this too. IBD causes the intestines to not absorb nutrients. So, that was even more important for Micah. It comes with all the nutrients needed besides taurine which is added when you add the chicken livers. My vet looked at the ingredients and was surprised it was so complete. Just to make sure my Micah is indeed getting everything he needs, I mix in a vitamin/fatty acid powder: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...&N=2002+113393 that all the cats love (its liver flavored).

Like I said before, I'm amazed (as was my vet) at the difference in how Micah feels. When he's ill, he's lethargic and just sits quietly on the cat tree or the ground. When he's feeling better he's energetic, loving and happy. My vet comes to my home and saw Micah during a "sick time" and then after a few days on the raw and was floored.

Anyway, sorry to take over your thread. I'm just so pleased with the results that I hope other kitties can benefit as well. :)

A vet that makes house calls, WOW! So glad that your Micah is feeling better and thanks for the additional resource!

Hi Val,

I'm Rose from Orlando. I just added my first special needs kitty to my brood of 3.
His name is Malfi, and he had broken his leg, that could not be set, because he had a bout with pemphigus foliacious, and auto immune disease that infects the paw pads and nail beds. He also accumulated fluid on the lungs at Thanksgiving, from the massive doses of steroids he was on. The vets basically called him terminal, but from that day on, he got better. He's a 10 yr old blue point Siamese.

I also have, Bella, my 2 yr old torti point Siamese, and Snowy, my 3 yr old blue point Siamese and Mr. Jones my 4 yr old Tuxedo.

And guess what. I foster with Siamese Rescue.:p

Awaiting your pictures and bios.


Rose

Best wishes to Malfi on a continued recovery! Until a person becomes involved with a special needs kitty they have no idea of how rewarding it can be. Yes, it's more "work" but you saved his LIFE! That's amazing! And the bond that we have with the "special ones" (I know ALL of them are "special") is unlike any other. Have any of y'all ever felt as tho the ones we've rescued or adopted and got out of some cage just seem to love us the most?

I know Amy continues to shower me with love and apperciation that it was SHE that I brought home from that cage in the pet store that day and I have never regretted getting a baby with a handicap. She continues to amaze me at her strenght and determanation. She gives me "that look" and it melts my heart and she knows it! It always gets her a treat or a hug.

Welcome to PT Val. I find it very helpful when you have question or problems someone somewhere has been there and done that and can help.

I agree. That's the great thing about all of us conversing. We can learn so much from one another.