UPDATES

11/13/03: Haley's first trip to the vet! Her belly had seemed distended and she had been having problems with diarrhea so we made the decision to get her in to see Dr. Moore as soon as possible. In case it was worms of some sort we took Lilo too. Well he looked Haley over and seemed very pleased with her condition considering she was a kitten of a feral just a week ago. No ear mites, a flea or two but no major infestation, and no worms. She weighed in at just over 1 pound and he checked her teeth. He figures her to be at 6 weeks now which means she's a week older than we thought. (I already changed the captions on the pics above to read "5 weeks" instead of 4). He gave us some antibiotics for her to take 2x a day for a bacterial infection in her stomach/large intestine which was causing the distended (bloated) tummy and diarrhea. She had also been burping/belching a lot and her appetite was enormous. Like us, stomach and gut problems or pain can be misinterpreted by the brain as hunger and she was eating to make it go away.

LILO UPDATE: We took Lilo to the vet when she was about 5-6 weeks (along with her brother Stitch) to make sure she was healthy and, more importantly, find out what the vet suggested regarding her deformed rear leg. We did not see Dr.Moore that day and we were given the opinion that the leg would need to be amputated at the hip when she reached at least 16 weeks old and the recommendation that we really should see Dr. Moore first. When we tried to place Lilo with a foster and/or permanent home this surgery was critical in our decision. In fact, it was why she is with us now. We couldn't bear to let this baby go with just anyone and the only people we trusted with her couldn't keep her for reasons that had Lilo's safety and well-being at heart even if it broke their heart to return her to us. They get daily updates as to her progress, pictures, and e-mails with stories of her latest antics---they are still very much part of her life--her very own cat-god parents. :) Well, Dr. Moore looked her over, watched her walk, examined the leg, foot, and claws and decided that she really could do without the surgery! This was excellent news!! Lilo is now 5 months old and we really didn't want to put her through the surgery at any age. We were praying that it wouldn't be necessary. It looks like our prayers have been answered!