After several weeks where it seemed we were making no progress at all, suddenly Little Dude got great test results back from the vet yesterday! The problem, of course, has been his extremely low calcium levels, which cause his bones to fracture at the drop of a hat. Yesterday when he made his weekly visit to the vet for a blood test, his calcium had gone up from 6.3 last week to 7.2! This is huge progress! The beginning of the normal range for calcium is 7.8, so the Dude still has a ways to go. He continues to be on the Calcitrial Oil and Youngevity vitamin supplements and will be tested again next week.
In the meantime, though, the Little Dude clearly feels better. This is obvious in his increased playfulness and mobility. He scoots around very rapidly now, not running yet, but speedwalking like crazy. Even better (from the Dude's point of view) he has discovered THE GREAT OUTDOORS. Just a couple of days ago, he started going out the back slider, which is always open during the daytime and opens into a fenced yard. On one side of the house calla lilies have blossomed in the warm weather and the vegetation is very thick. Of course, this is where the Dude likes to hide. Last night he was back there and I came out with a flashlight, but the shadows thrown by the lilies themselves made it impossible to even begin to see him and, of course, being black, he merges ninja-like with the night. Finally I just left him alone and he came back inside and went to bed when he got ready.
It is so wonderful to have a positive report to make on the Little Dude. For all his physical limitations, he seems to really enjoy life and has no inkling there is anything 'wrong' with him or that he is in any way different from the other kitties.
*
On another note, it's kitten season now, alas, and I've already got one nursing mom over at a house in AG and another pregnant female at the same address. The prenant cat's a feral but her caregivers call her Lupe and I need to trap her before she gives birth. I tried last night and caught two other ferals, but not Lupe. In the meantime, it's important that I NOT trap the cat who has already given birth until her kittens are old enough to be without her for at least a day, while she is being spayed and recoverering from that.
I was up on the Mesa the other day, doing the feeding stations I've set up there, and a young boy excitedly informed me that his cat had had kittens and his family wanted to 'donate' them to Feline Network. I explained that there are far too many kittens as it is but I offered to get his cat spayed. I will talk to his family next time I'm on the Mesa. Last year his parents were both very sympathetic to my efforts to trap feral cats and yet now they have allowed their own cat to give birth. So many people just don't seem to get it! Cats--like many humans--reproduce rapidly, automatically, and with no thought to the consequences or their ability to provide for their offspring.
As a friend of mine wrote the other day, when will they ever find a method of birth control to put in cat's water or food! What a great day that would be!
