Off the Road…

New rescue on Friday…I was on the way to the store, before heading to class. I saw a young black female cat sitting near the big road, on a wall at the corner of a parking lot. I could see that someone had put down a food dish previously, but there was no shelter nearby, and the cat was crying continuously. She wasn’t in bad shape, physically, though she has a small patch of skin trouble on her face. It’s hard to tell if she was recently abandoned and someone else had begun feeding her, or if the person who abandoned her was coming back to feed her. But it was no place for a cat to live–no shelter, except under cars, and too close to busy traffic. We had to trap her initially, and had thought to spay/return her. But once in the shelter for a couple of days, we’ve determined that she’s friendly, and adoptable. She went for her spay operation on Saturday. We’ve named her Shana, and are letting her stay out of the cage in the kitten room, as she’s continued to cry and seems to be suffering from stress. Better today, more and more relaxed, but a little growly in proximity of other cats.

Back to the vet (our regular one, this time) with Chobi who is now active and seems healthy other than a renewed bout of diarrhea. Soooo frustrating, as we are feeding her the highest quality of food we can find here, keeping her separate in her own large cage, and keeping the cage absolutely clean. Still no bacteria or parasites in her poop, and the vet says that he can’t feel a blockage or abnormality in her intestines. We’re back to medicine and a reduced diet, which causes her to fret constantly about food. The vet has no ideas about where to go from here, which has us worried. At least she isn’t showing signs of anemia or dehydration, and has gained a good amount of weight. I wonder if it could be some kind of food allergy, but we’ve already tried such a variety of different foods…I’d try switching her to food we prepare ourselves, but we don’t have access to the necessary vitamins and other supplements that we’d need in that case. If she doesn’t improve soon, I’d like to have her spend some more time at the clinic, so that the vet might be better able to evaluate her.

The two little newbies staying at the shelter, now named Hansel and Gretel, are doing fine. Hansel had conjunctivitis when he came in, which we are treating regularly with eye drops. He seems to be responding well, with greatly reduced swelling and discharge, though we’re a bit concerned by the continued cloudiness of his eyes. The vet checked him out on Saturday and added interferon to his drops, so hoping that improves things. Gretel is a round ball of fur, and has warmed up to human touch. Neither seems to miss their mother at all, and both are always sleeping, eating, or playing happily in their cage. We’re focusing on getting the bigger kittens into homes as quickly as possible, so it’s a relief that these little ones are doing well. Also a relief that we could place their 3 siblings in foster care. One of our volunteers went out to the site we rescued them from and picked up 4 female cats for spaying on Saturday, along with Shana. Not sure if the mother of the newbies was in that lot, but we’ll be going out there at least several more times, over the next few weeks. Skippy, also from that site is a lovely little boy. He couldn’t be friendlier and reminds me of Michael, with his loud regular purr, whenever I walk into the kitten room.

Went out to Costco on Sunday for School party Halloween candy, food, and shelter supplies. My student and her husband drove me and my friend out, so the 2 hour trip gave us a nice chance to catch up. However, it ended up being more time than we bargained for…We got a flat tire on the way there, which was my first time to ever pull over on the side of a Japanese highway! I almost never even see a car pulled over on highways here, since due to strict car inspection policies, most of the cars on the road are in excellent condition–though I guess you can never avoid the accidental tire puncture! I have to say that the highway assistance we received was amazing. Photos from my side of the highway experience…

David brought Rose and Daisy to their new home (and their new Amanda!) today. I will miss dear Rosey, who is such a snuggle-bug, but I am so happy for these two. Amanda is an amazing find, and David reports that he is thrilled after having met her. I imagine that news will help Amanda and Kevin, the previous very kind caretakers, to feel better about the two kitties’ futures. The trip out was long, and the bus David was on landed in some bad traffic. He still needs to meet Gina to pick up Josie (potential new adoption for her) and Alexandra (toileting rehabilitation, fingers crossed), so he won’t be back until after midnight. I’ve been on the computer nonstop almost all day long. The good news is that there are several new adoptions that we are processing this week (a relief in light of recent new rescues). We were also able to find a reasonable digital camera to start taking pictures with. I’ve been having to use my cel phone since our digital camera broke some time ago, and it’s hard to take pictures in anything other than perfect light. I’m looking forward to the improved technology, and think it will show off the kitties much better, leading to even more interest in them. I took some new photos of the kittens that are staying at the vet’s clinic. Two families are interested in adopting from this group, and we are thinking of sending the rest for fostering in Tokyo. It’s shaping up to be either more than one trip or a two person gig, depending on how the schedule works out, and the final number of kittens going out.