Mild Urinary Tract Infections

Seems that our two kitty cats have very mild urinary tract infections.  I picked up some liquid medicine for them today from the Humane Society, but they immediately puked and spat that out all over their crate.  QUITE emphatically and in great general agreement.  So I'll be picking up some pills for them in the morning.

Topaz and Indigo

We seem to be having a trend of blue animals at our house.  Our two new fosters are two cats named Topaz and Indigo (last dog was Saphyre).  My understanding is that these cats come from the same home, and are having some litter box issues.  Our job is to determine if there is a medical problem or a behavioral one.  They seem to using the box well so far, although we are only giving them the run of the room if we are in there watching them.

These cats are very affectionate.  Topaz seems to be a bit more cuddly and Indigo a bit more playful.  I was sitting in the cat room (my bedroom) reading today, letting them wander around and lost track of Topaz.  I called KeeKee in my kitty calling voice and her head popped out of a two inch wide crack in a drawer.  Not sure how she got in there so quietly, because she had quite the squeeze getting out.  And now you know I have a bad habit of not getting my drawers shut all the way. My mom is probably very embarrassed.  It's a lesson she did teach, I just didn't learn it well.  :-)

Indigo is the brown kitty -- with beatiful blue eyes, and Topaz is the black one with greenish brown eyes.

Some words about fostering

We are still waiting on a family for Saphyre -- and for another animal for our family to foster.  My family has taken dogs the last couple of times, and these were not high needs dogs, but they do require some attention.  Our own animals also need their attention -- including our two dogs. 
We knew when we began fostering that our family would only be able to handle a high needs animal once in a great while.  Which is one reason more foster families are needed so badly.  High needs situations do not happen often, but they do happen and these are best spread around amoung lots of willing hands.  I really appreaciate how the staff at the Humane Society are so careful to be sure to only send home an animal that we feel comfortable caring for.
Right now there is another dog which needs heartworm treatment and she will need to be in foster care for about a month, keeping quiet, like we did with Saphyre.  There are also two puppies which need daily physical therapy.  However, the six of us have a lot going on right now, and we are not in a situation to help these wonderful dogs out.  There are several other foster families also -- but the more there are the more the load is spread around. 

Our pretty girl Saphyre still looking for a family

Our pretty girl Saphyre is still waiting for her family at Champaign County Humane Society.  I think that this is my favorite photo of her time with us.  It shows her regalness and yet you can see she is ready to play whenever you are.  The movies at the bottom of the page are a bit dark, but they will give you an introductioin to her. 

Jack, our cat, seems to be doing well.  So he will probably be vacating the crate in the next few days and we will be able to take in another foster.

Saphyre available for adoption

Randy took Saphyre back to the Champaign County Humane Society on Saturday and she has been cleared for adoption!  Hooray -- now just waiting for her family to find her. 

If you are interested in adopting her you can visit the website at http://www.cuhumane.org/ . There are 3 videos of her at the bottom of this page.

Wishing you all the best Saphyre!

As far as our next foster animal, we will need to wait a couple of weeks before bringing another one home.  We have four cats of our own, and one of them has been losing weight.  We are not sure if he has just decided that he doesn't like this special food that we have to buy because another of the cats has severe allergies or if he has developed a health problem.  We have had him checked for diabetes and that came up clear.  So we are going to use the crate for him for a couple of weeks so we can monitor exactly how much he is eating and what his particular deposits in the litter box are.

Saphyre's big day tomorrow

Tomorrow Saphyre will be heading back to the Champaign County Humane Society for her check up -- and hopefully if all is well, she will be returning for adoption.  We have enjoyed her so much while she has stayed here -- and our activity has been severely limited. 

We filmed  an introduction to Saphyre that you can view at the bottom of the page, along with a couple of other videos of her. You will see how sweet she is -- how playful, and yet how eager to please and quiet she can be. She can be lively, active and rowdy -- but is willing to listen to her people say the game is done. She has had to spend quite a bit of time in her crate this last month because of being treated for heart worms and has never once complained about it. I can easliy see her being comfortable living in an apartment, or a house in the country with lots of room to run. She could adapt to a family that works -- or one that has people home all day. She is just eager to give her heart to someone who will love her back forever.

Saphyre's outing

Saphyre has to keep quiet because of her heartworm treatment -- but she doesn't have to be bored.  So this weekend when our family was planning an outing, we planned around Saphyre and took her along.  She still had limited walks, but she got to see some sites on those walks, meet some new people, and smell some new smells.  She truly will make a great friend and companion for her new family.  She did very well with lots of people, stayed calm and we actually were able to have her out of her crate longer than we had expected to be able to. 

We don't often hear from our foster friends, but what fun -- this time we did!  These two pups stayed with us earlier in the summer, along with 4 siblings.  They were adopted by friends and get to visit one another regularly.  And when Bowie's family noticed our blog mentioned at the CCHS website, and recognized the pictures, they let us know that Bowie and George are doing well.  Good to hear from you!

A Carefully Monitored Game

We have to keep Saphyre quiet because of the heartworm treatment that she is under, but she is a young active dog who wants to play. We did indulge her in a short game with her rope the other night, being careful not to encourage her running or jumping for it. She has grown to be a great favorite of my son Nate -- who being an active young person himself sympathizes with her plight. The funniest thing, and I could never get a picture of this, was when Nate would let her have the rope, she would immediately whip in a circle with her back to him, sit and peek back over her shoulder at him. So coy, the little tease!