Might as well start with the bad news.
I lost Bright Eyes a couple of days ago. She had started drooling a bunch and acted like she was trying to throw up but never produced much. I got her in to the vet who did all the usual tests and decided that the problem was a bad tooth. Two days later she was back at the vet for her dental work. The vet who was to do the dental saw that her mouth and throat was full of stick discharge. She figured it was probably an infection in her nose or sinuses so she sent her home on antibiotics with instructions to let them know if she hadn’t improved in 3 days. She hadn’t, so I took her back in and a third vet checked her over and after another set of x-rays found that she had an enlarged esophagus (megasophagus) and her stomach and intestines were also enlarged. After considering all the factors it was decided to let her go. At least it happened over a short period of time so she didn’t suffer long.
The raccoons are still showing up most nights to eat, play in the pool and take naps. 3 or 4 weeks ago, when it was super hot, they disappeared for a couple of days. When they finally showed up late at night, they were all acting agitated and were being aggressive with each other. All the kits seem to be afraid of the mom, especially one of them. The next night they showed up but one of the kits was missing. It’s been weeks now and the mamma and the remaining 3 kits are acting relaxed and normal again and I haven’t seen hide nor hair of the fourth one. The only thing I can think of is that the missing kit contracted something and the others drove him away. The mamma and the remaining ones look and act healthy. The weather has turned cold so I’m not sure how much longer they’ll stick around.
Little Sweety’s hyperthyroidism is nicely under control and all my other cats and kittens are doing fine. No new kittens or pregnant mamas have showed up. I did talk the neighbors into letting me take their big white Persian, Darrell, in to the vets for his shots and to get microchipped. They kept putting it off for lack of funds and it’s actually pretty hard to find a vet who is taking new patients. I figured I could get him in as a new one of my tribe. In less than a week I had him in for his shots and a chip. I told the vet that it was kind of a joint custody situation with the neighbors furnishing his food and board and me taking care of his medical. Of course the neighbors insists on paying me back which is fine if they can, but if not, that’s ok too.
This is Darrell…
As for me, I got used to the heat so I managed to get all my summer projects done. I’m still coming up with new things to do to keep me busy. On one visit to the vet we were talking and she asked me what I’d do if I didn’t have all my cats to take care of and my projects to work on. It’s simple, I told her I‘d get old and die. I’d rather avoid that as long as possible.