Vet Care for Rescued Kitty

lucille · August 2008

A teeny tiny little guy turned up on my front step yesterday afternoon as I was coming inside with my dog. I took him (or her...still to young to tell) some food, but had to run to an appointment. I went back out last night and found him under a bush next door with another little guy. The other one took off too fast for me to find him, but I got the first one. He is really skinny and tiny--no more than 6-8 weeks. Happily, I have a small extra room where he can hang out as well as an extra litter box. I gave him some frontline and he's been resting, but he really needs some vet care. He's just not kitty-spunky. I'm going to PM Case and see if she has any good ideas, and try to get a photo on here. Not sure how to do that...
My girl cat is clingy and jealous just knowing there's an interloper in the extra room... Any suggestions would be helpful. I'm dead broke right now, or I'd take him to my usual vet. Last time I rescued kitties, (six of them, two of which are still mine) the group that said they'd help me really didn't. I was mislead into believing that if I caught them, they would get them tested and vetted and find them homes. As soon as all six of them were in my one bedroom apartment, with my dog and husband and old cat, they were like "That'll be 120 dollars per cat....etc." Not good. Help!

jf22561 · August 2008

Oh yes, animal care is expensive. For lower cost care you can try BARC in Williamsburg, the Humane Soc. of NY or the ASPCA, both in Manhattan. Sorry I don't have the numbers, but they're easily found on line. Good luck with the baby!

lucille · August 2008

The little guy is doing well. He's eating and not seeming overly stressed. Still, I gotta get him some medical care...

laura b · August 2008

One of the cheapest deals by far is Animal Care & Control, which offers low-cost spay/neuter, testing, vaccines, flea treatment every Thursday in Brooklyn.

See http://www.nycacc.org/bigfix_english.html

They will only take cats at least 8 weeks old, though.

bohuma · August 2008

Subject: Center for Animal Care and Control

The Center for Animal Care and Control http://www.nycacc.org/ has a contract with the city and is required to take all surrendered pets. They will take this kitten from you and if he is adoptable they'll try and place him. If he is not adoptable (or adopted) they will humanely euthanize him. I know the prospect of euthanasia is not pleasant but it is a sad fact of life when people don't sterilize their pets. For the record our two cats and our dog were sterilized before they reached sexual maturity.

Good luck with this little fellow.

AC&C — Brooklyn Animal Care Center
2336 Linden Boulevard
Brooklyn, NY 11208
(212) 788 4000
Shelter Hours: 8:00am to 8:00pm, 7 Days a Week
Adoption Hours: Noon to 7:00pm, 7 Days a Week
Closed on All Holidays

Directions: Take the '3' train to New Lots Ave; When getting out of the New Lots station, walk down New Lots four little blocks to Essex, then turn right and go two avenue blocks to Linden. (shelter is on the South side of the street between Essex St. and Shepherd Ave.)

lucille · August 2008

Thanks so much everyone. I got in touch with Jenny at Kensington Kitties and right now the plan is that I'll hang on to him for a couple of weeks until he's big enough to be reliably tested and vaccinated. She thinks they will be able to adopt him out. I'll try to get some pictures on here soon. Hopefully really soon. Thanks for the cheap testing/spay/neuter info. There are so many strays around, it's bound to come in handy in the future...

lucille · August 2008

lucille · August 2008

Voila! Photos!

lucille · August 2008

caseopele · August 2008

I wrote a detailed explanation on how to post a pic from Flickr, but my mouse is screwy and closed the page before I posted. But you figured it out on your own so it worked out.

Oh my goodness, he's adorable! What a lucky little guy to have found you. Is KK going to give him shots and everything?

lucille · August 2008

I think so. I'm going to hang onto him until he's big enough to be tested. The last time I did this one of the kitties was tested too early and came up positive for FIV and Leukemia, and the group that tested him put him down. I hung onto the other five for two more weeks and got them tested at the ASPCa, and they all came back negative. He's doing really well and starting look a little livelier. I bought him a couple toys today and now when I feed him he's all rubby, rubby on my hands. I'm gonna do my homework in there tonight to give him some lap time. I think he was absolutely weak with hunger when I first brought him in. He would just sort of sit on my hand looking sick. My girl cat is so possessive, she's sitting beside my computer as a I type looking at me like "What's all the fuss about that little dude?" She's a wise creature...

caseopele · August 2008

Haha, Mumps was totally jealous of Betsy when I took her in. I think he was upset that he wasn't "The Baby" of the house anymore. But he accepted it and plays with her and even cleans her sometimes!

I would definitely wait on having him tested, he's so little. He needs fattening up first, roly poly kitten belly!

stacey · August 2008

OMG what a cutie. Thanks for taking care of this little guy

.
But when I saw his picture he reminded me of brain from pinky and the brain.
I can just see him saying "I will rule your heart"

[quote=Lucille]

lucille · August 2008

Yes! Yes! Yes! I've been trying to come up with a name and knew that he reminded me of some cartoon something or other and I think you've hit it on the head! Brain! Is that too weird a name? Brainy?

caseopele · August 2008

Pinky: "Gee Brain, what do you want to do tonight?"
The Brain: "The same thing we do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world."

Brain is perfect!

stacey · August 2008

Yah!! But wait - remember what happened to caseo - as soon as she named her little one it was all over

lucille · August 2008

Wha? I don't know that story, but I can take a wild guess at the ending...he/she is hers now forever? Actually, we were initially calling him "Icky" as a variation on "Itchy" as in "The Itchy and Scratchy Show." Plus, he really was and kind of still is a little icky, in the cutest sense. My husband likes it because he says, "He is icky, but we still like him." I love Brain, but I can't hear myself calling it out affectionately, "Come here, little Brain, oh boo boo Brain." Actually, now that I've written it, maybe i can. But maybe he gets a full name: Icky Brain. Now that's kinda cute and sick at the same time. I am so hoping he's healthy. I would love to find him a good home. My other two are so very happy and seem so disgruntled by the little guy. Actually, my big guy is okay, but his sister is nutty jealous. The real concern for us is the cost of vet bills. I'm in school and until I start teaching full time, which probably won't pan out for another year or so, I will continue to be, and we have an old, beloved, high-cost dog. Also, we travel at least four weeks a year and getting a good caretaker for two cats and an old dog is already stretching us to the limit. But who knows...it's not out of the question.

caseopele · August 2008

stacey wrote: Yah!! But wait - remember what happened to caseo - as soon as she named her little one it was all over

Whatever do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about. :-' Oh wait... It's coming back, I think I remember it now. Lucille, be very careful you don't get sucked in like I did. Kittehs are extremely wily!

This...

Turned into this!

lucille · August 2008

Oh, boo boo, I can see why this one had to stay! Trust me, I have been careful. I feed lots of cats, but haven't taken on saving one in a while...since my last rescue which wound up with me housing six kitties for weeks and keeping two. If I could just get that grant from the sky that paid my rent and food and vet bills, I would truly do nothing but save kitties and puppies. But this one...jeez. you just can't walk away from such a helpless thing there on your doorstep! The funny thing is, there's an empty building next to mine and a cat that I see running into the stairwell over there from the time to time. I put food out for him, but he's clearly already (at six months or so) disinclined to human interaction. when they're this little it seems a waste not to try to at least give them the benefit of being socially interactive with humans. That's how my kitties turned up, more or less. Their mom was human-friendly, which led them to my yard. That's a whole nother long story. Uh, did I mention I'm working on a paper? Please disregard inordinately long posts. They are a result of typingitis.

caseopele · August 2008

Lucille, you are a wonderful person. I know exactly what you mean, I feel the same way. I got Mumps (the devil above) when he was 2 weeks old from the store across the street from my house. The owner got him from his cousin and didn't know what to do with him but he knew I had cats. 3 weeks later my super gave me Grumps (a 3 week old kitten), he was sick and didn't trust me an inch. How could I resist?

elove · August 2008

Look at Da Mumps! So handsome, but such a stinker in disguise :-)

lucille · August 2008

Mumps and Grumps! I love it! I was very close last week to asking a store owner whether or not they planned to spay the tiny kitten running in and out of the produce boxes on the floor. it was a beautiful little guy already given to hissing. I might go back...this really is addictive.

alana · August 2008

In the future for reference the Humane Society is a great source for low-cost vet care.

lucille · August 2008

I am way too tired to post any new pictures, but Icky Brain aka Mr. Icks, is turning out to look more and more like Brain! The tops of his eyes are straight instead of rounded, which does give him a slightly diabolical appearance. Either that or it's a very Clarke Gable, come hither sort of thing. I lean towards diabolical.
Icky has hind legs that seem way too long for his tiny little front legs, so he wobbles a lot and sort of throws his rear legs around. This might explain why he turned up on my steps--he probably couldn't navigate well enough to fend for himself and he was weak with hunger.
So, he gets to come out and visit and has become very sociable. Today he hung out on my lap while I typed and just generally explored. He still needs to be tested, dewormed, and given stuff for ear mites. I've been letting him hang out with my cats because there has been no trouble.
My really jealous girl cat stays away, and my boy cat sniffs him and teases him with his tail. In other words, no serious danger of scratching and biting, and of course, I don't leave them all together alone.
I sent an email to the Kensington ladies today and haven't heard back yet. I'm thinking I'll take him to ACC for testing and treatment and then hand him over to be adopted out. If no one takes him, he's definitely staying.
How transmittable are Feline HIV and Leukemia? Am I crazy to let him roam free even if there is no real sign of trouble?

caseopele · August 2008

FIV is transmitted by a deep penetrating bite wound so unless Mr. Icks chomps on one of your cats you should be okay. As for FeLV, I found this:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/felv.html

We need pics!

Vet Care for Rescued Kitty

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