Kira

I wasn't expecting Kira to be the next one to go on the critical list. After all, Arbee is the oldest, and Neelix has had cancer for a year. Even Chatterbox is older. But about three weeks ago, something completely sucked her personality out of her.

Three vets have no answers. Everything in her body checks out fine. So it must be a brain tumor. And she has all the symptoms of that, walking in circles, restlessness, bumping into things, just wanting to sleep and hide. She doesn't hear me go into the laundry room anymore. She doesn't ask to go out. She doesn't remember to eat unless you put the food under her face. She might use the litter box if you put her in it.

How could she have changed so much in just three weeks?

An MRI to detect a brain tumor is $1,000 or more. And there's really no affordable or humane treatment. When the last vet told me what she thought, I asked her what do people usually do? She said they reach a point where they can't stand the walking in circles part, sometimes it goes on all night, the pet never sleeps. And when you can't bear it any longer, you put her down.

She was such an affectionate cat, and had such a rough start in life, abandoned to live in the woods and kept having litters before she was even two. (We actually have two of her sons.) Finally, I just took her away from her so-called owner, catnapped her one afternoon. Between the parasites, fleas, July heat, and lack of food, she was about to die anyway. She was cross-eyed and losing her fur.

So I don't know. We'll see how much of this we can survive. Both of us will try.

(Jan. 2015 -- After two courses of Prednisone, she seems to be her old self again. She took her last pill of the prescription last week, so we'll see if the symptoms come back.)

The first week with us.

And she turned into this.

Neelix at the One Year Mark

The Two New Ones

BeeGee has been sleeping inside for nearly a year and a half now after a year of being just a neighborhood stray that came by for food. She summers in a cardboard box under my desk and winters in a walk-in closet. I can tell the seasons have changed because she moved into the closet recently. She still always thinks she wants to go out, but after an hour or two changes her mind and runs back to the door. I know she wants me to pick her up and bring her in when she turns her back to me and doesn't run away. She has not socialized with any of the other cats still. No confidence. Has yet to explore the rest of the house. Just knows how to get to this kitchen stool, the closet, the front door, or the box under my desk.

Mackie was the neighborhood stray who came for breakfast and dinner for nearly three years. Unless he's actually the cat we called Sylvester who was coming around since 2004, and then stopped. Is this Sylvester or a relative? Anyway, March 2014 I managed to grab him and cage him and get him fixed. After that success, I would try to grab him again on spring rainy nights and bring him in. He'd hide under the sofa. Then we got to the point where if I slept on the sofa, he would come up and sleep on it, too. Now he sleeps in our bed and doesn't care much for going out, and it's only been about seven months. He has not left our yard since he moved in. We think he used to live in the attic of a rundown garage across the street. He is a very affectionate cat. Lots of head butts and cuddling with his ear to my heart.

The Outlook Isn't Brilliant for the Catville Eight

Seven developed a hematoma in his ear, which required surgery, a drain, and actual buttons sewn into his ear. $288.00

Neelix has survived his cancer a year now, but his bimonthly checkups runs about $356.

Something has gone wrong with Kira. She's been lethargic for three days. But her temperature is normal, nothing seems to be amiss, but the vet I like the very least -- and the only one open until 7 p.m., wanted $422 to do bloodwork, test for leukemia, do some kind of cholesterol and vetscan, urinalysis, pancreatic lipase, cystocentesis, etc. It was late on a Thursday night. I just couldn't stand it. I need Kira to pull out of this on her own somehow. Or I need to talk to the vets I like first. We settled on a pencillin shot, dexamethasone, and a hydration for $156, which got done so quickly, I wonder how much fluid she actually got. She just wants to lay on the heat vent. She eats and drinks if you bring it to her, pees and poops if you put her in the box, but doesn't yell about going outside, doesn't prance around the house, doesn't do anything.

Meanwhile, Seven's cone, drain and buttons came off and he seems to have a permanently disfigured ear now despite all the buttons.