Hard Day

I did not start the barn kitties on their roundworm or coccidia meds until Friday. Since Cinderella did not handle it so well, I wanted to make sure we would be around for the others once we had given them their first doses. Poppy seemed a little weak that evening, so once I had given the others thier meds and fed them, they went back outside, but Poppy stayed in over night. On Saturday morning, he only ate a nibble. I didn't see Sugar Bear the night before for his first dose, but he came up to the steps for breakfast. I gave him his meds, but also kept him in as he too didn't seem well. On Saturday Poppy had pooped out seven good roundworms and on Sunday morning, eight more. I didn't find anything obvious in Sugar Bear's.

They both were very dehydrated and underweight, only eating a nibble in Saturday morning. They didn't eat all the rest of the day, but I finally was able to tempt Sugar Bear with some smoked oysters that evening. They both were very quiet and subdued the entire weekend...eating and drinking nothing other than the half oyster that Sugar Bear ate. We continued their coccidia doses and gave them extra vitamins, also giving them water by dropper to try and ease their dehydration. They moved around from time to time, selecting a new place to rest...sometimes on top of the heat register. At night we moved them and the kennel with a heat pad into the bathroom. On Monday morning I woke up early--around 4:00 am and went in to check on them. Poppy was out of the kennel sitting on the heat register. With apprehension, I went to look for Sugar Bear in the kennel. His poor little soul had left him some time in the night.

Poppy was still with us, but we had to wait another four hours until the veterinarian's office opened.
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