It’s been a while and some of the information here has been posted on X, but I wanted to be sure everyone gets the word.
The first cat update is for Princess Stella Grumpy Pants. As you may know, Stella had a cancerous polyp removed from her left ear about a year ago and has a severely misbehaving thyroid. We took the ole lady to the vet for an Old Cat Panel blood test and everything is just pixie purrrfect for Mandarin’s Retreat leading prima donna.
Just as important as good blood work is this: Stella has gotten adventurous. She had been “confined” by her own choice in my office, meaning our old second bedroom. We put cats there when they have integration problems and need to be either totally on their own or only visited by members of the welcoming committee, Cookie and Toby. Occasionally I’d leave the door open and she might have walked out into the hallway, but would immediately scurry back inside. Lately, however, Stella has gotten wanderlust (or maybe just got bored) and has turned the entire Retreat into her dominion. She rarely returns to the office which leaves lap space for the ancient Linus or one of the kittens. So, good for her, as she has now become a full-fledged member of the Retreat.
Our next update is for little LJ, the tiny kitten with a deformed left rear leg. He is still SO SMALL!
He just recently broke 2.5 pounds and appears to be ever so surely gaining more and more weight. Mrs H feeds him separately with Royal Canin Mother & Baby wet food. He also has access to food and water bowls spread through out the Retreat. LJ chows down like a champ and no one pushes him away from food, but it’s such a slow process for him to gain weight. We can’t begin to place him in for corrective surgery until the little guy gets bigger.
Our third and final update is Lulu. She is our latest wonky cat and was referred to us from a family on Ft Bliss through Sun City Cats. SCC, as you may recall, is our TNR partner in El Paso and the majority of wonky cats come to us via them. Lulu has an unfortunate incident with another family cat and became incredibly stressed out when being around them. The family was concerned that Lulu was over cleaning herself and scratching her ears to shreds. They had tried two or three different vets and several meds, but nothing worked. The family knew made one of the most difficult decisions there is as a cat owner – their babycat needed to permanently get away from the other feline. They signed Lulu over to us, in spite of the absolutely heart-rending grief it caused their entire crew.
We placed Lulu in her own quiet kennel, with an array of toys and different foods. She quickly made herself at home and became very, very chatty. Whenever Mrs H or I enter the room, she immediately starts a conversation and demands to be petted. She also became an avid user of the in-kennel scratching post. Lulu is slowly becoming more and more chilled out and playful. She has another appointment with Dr M today to evaluate her and plan further treatment. Please keep your paws crossed for Ms Lulu as she adjusts to life at Mandarin’s Retreat.
Please expect more frequent blog posts as we are mulling over in our collective brains a change at the Retreat. Stay tuned for more info!