Cats, cats, cats

New babies. Look at those tiny feet and claws! This is the kitty that had 10; she's not that big!

Wren that was a beautiful photo of the foster kitten being loved and accepted by the foster human's cat! So wonderful.

Meadow welcome to you and Mattie! He looks like quite a sweetheart. Such a dilemma knowing what the right thing to do to help him with his gingivitis. I'm glad that you are having some success with the steroids. And great that you got some feedback from experiences from other cat lovers on here. I found an article on chronic gingivitis on an on-line vet clinic website. I've used this website before when trying to understand different feline problems. http://manhattancats.com/Articles/Severe%20Gingivitis-Stomatitis.html It's an interesting read, some cats do well on steroids, some cats had to be taken to the vet from time to time for a long-acting steroid injection. Unfortunately though the steroids and antibiotics eventually become ineffective then extraction becomes necessary. So this vet is leaning toward extraction as the best treatment even though some cats still need some steroid support even after surgery. Maybe tell the vet, the one you feel more comfortable with, that you've been doing a little research and that you would like some help weighing the pros and cons of surgery compared with long-term steroid use. I would just be a little concerned with Mattie going under anesthetic at his age. But the vet knows best. Maybe there are extra precautions that they can take now. Like littleblueflowers, I don't want to be a downer, I just want the absolute best for you and Mattie )

Smaarty so sorry about Bailey, such handsome markings he had, and those eyes! We almost lost Prowler this year to something still unexplained, brought him to the vet and his fever had reached 106, the vet couldn't believe it. He was put on antibiotics and lived but honestly I was starting to prepare myself for the worst. Love them so much.

KiwiCatMom, I haven't seen kitties this wee for a long, long time!! So lovely and thank you for sharing it. I hope mama cat can support all those kittens and herself. I'm guessing with 7 kittens though she and the kittens will have to be supplemented.

Hi Meadow and welcome to the cat club! I would lean towards the teeth pulling too based on a personal experience. I had a cat Willow who died in 2004 from a gum infection that actually went into the jaw bone. Vet had to remove a piece of his jaw and I was to feed him pureed cat food, as he would not have managed normal food due to missing piece of jaw. However he just gave up the will to live, wouldn't eat the pureed food and sadly had to be euthanased at just 10 years old. The vet said he was just really, really unfortunate in the infection going into the bone but these complications can occur. LittleBlueFlowers is right to raise the point that an allergic reaction to anaesthesia can occur - a friend of mine lost her young cat this way just going in for the routine neutering. Has Mattie had anaesthesia ever before - if so at least you would know he is not allergic?

Sorry to hear of your loss LittleBlueFlowers

Donna Dew your cat photos are glorious!

Smaarty - Bailey is beautiful. RIP Bailey. I had a cat Charlie who got creosote on him in 1991 - creosote is toxic to cats. Had to wash him with washing up liquid. Luckily we knew about that particular toxin being on him from the smell. I was really cross that a neighbour had creosoted their fence and not thought to warn people in the neighbourhood to keep their cats in. Possibly they just didn't know. The sad thing was poor Charlie was Feline Leukemia Virus positive so was already dying, this was in the days before a vaccine against this horrible virus had been developed. So I had to subject an already ill cat to the stress of a sudsy bath. We had got 4 kittens in 1989/90, and they all became infected with FLV which was absolutely rampant in the UK at the time (I was living in Kent in the UK at the time), with no cure. 4 lovely cats, Charlie, Blossom, Honey and Jazz all died before they were 2. It was so sad. You can imagine I am very vigilant about this vaccine now that it exists, thank God.

What would you name this kitten?

I choose............Precious!

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Thank you so much Donna and feelingfeline for the warm welcome and your insights. I am starting him on a 30 day steriod course, see if this is the answer. if not, I will have to try extractions. My non-extraction-opinioned vet thinks we should try this first, then do the dental as a last resort. I think this is a good course of action. FIngers crossed!

Thank you scrunch and your Clarence is so handsome.

Cute!

GAH KITTENS!!

This is Butch and I just love him. I've been a pet sitter since July. He is owned by someone else and his family just adores him.

He is 17 years old and so fun to just hang out with.

I have a cat statue by the front door that used to be solid black. One day a couple of years ago I decided to spruce her up!

The girls waiting and watching for me to come home.

Mozie lounging on the ledge by her favorite sunny window

Beautiful cats! The sisters look a lot like the mum of the babies I posted.

The babies are nursing and doing well. They get weighed every couple of days and if they're not gaining weight they get some bottle feeding too.

Wonderland what a wonderful Mexican/inca-esque cat artwork!

awwww... Starkist looks a little sad today. Don't you wish we could just explain things to them so that they would understand. I know it would make me feel better lol!

We got all 3 cats into the crates today and went to the vet for vaccines and checkups. All went well! Lots of yodelling during the car trip, from the cats. No deposits in the crates, yay!! And we are now back home and peaceful again )

Was away to see my breast surgeon yesterday, 6hr round trip, lots more beautiful cat and cat lover photos here since then! I so enjoy seeing them all! Keep them coming )

Donna