Another visit to the Vet...

I was still in denial of sweet little Karen's passing when I was blindsided by another event. I started to notice that Sam was having issues eating but most importantly getting around.

I tried everything from canned food since I mostly buy large bags of dried cat food (cheaper when you have sixteen felines) to regular human canned tuna but nothing seemed to perk his appetite. He had no strength in his hind legs and would walk a short distance and then fall.

I was going to upload the video but due to my lack of computer knowledge...I am unable to...:-(  

Another visit to the vet was inevitable so off we went to México on Monday, January 16th, 2023. Thankfully, I got the head vet Dr. Chavarria as I will always value experience over anything else. He diagnosed him as "malnourished" but did not give an opinion as to how he got that way. 

I have always been mindful of seeing that each cat eats their fair share after an episode of Hoarders where this lady had multiple cats and would feed them but not stay around to see who actually ate. She did not realize that only the strongest survived and her original cat was denied food by the others. Horrible episode to watch if I might add 😢

He gave him the following medication and even before I had a chance to say anything...he reassured me that even though it had a dog on the packaging it was also for felines. I had to use the syringe, open his mouth and shove it down his throat twice a day...sounds easy doesn't it?  Let me assure you...IT WASN'T!

I have mentioned on my other blog Terlingua Dreams that the only two apps I have on my phone are Dairy Queen and Border Crossing Times. Unfortunately, I do not have cell phone coverage in México but to my surprise, I did not have to drive to Bodegas Aurrera or Gutierrez to tap into their internet as on a lark I tried it outside the clinic which is not very far from the International Bridge and had service.

Today's Dollar exchange rates:

 Compra=Buy $18.20 to $1.00 USD...Venta=Sell $19.60 to purchase $1.00 USD.

In case you are wondering what the tolls are from México to the USA...I was in luck as they had modernized their new tolls signage and gone electronic. The tolls for a regular vehicle are $30.00 Mexican Pesos. The going rate today was $18.20 to $1.00 USD... which translates to $1.65 USD. The toll to cross from Del Rio, Texas to Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila is $4.00 USD which is a rate established by the City of Del Rio.

Bare in mind that it was Dr. Martin Luther King Day and while it is not celebrated in México a lot of American citizens had the day off. The app said the wait time was 25 minutes...WRONG...it was more like 45 minutes but the lines were moving fast as they had more lanes open on this holiday. 

It did not dawn on me to take a picture until I was halfway through the line as I was attentive to my little Sam.

Today is almost two weeks since his visit to the vet and while some days he is better than others, he is still not at 100 percent. This morning it was drizzling so I did not go outside with him until noon and I am glad to report that he ate more than on other occasions. During the evenings he sleeps in his crate in the kitchen. I suffer from chronic insomnia the only bright side to that is that I get to check on him frequently during the night.

Thank you for visiting Walter's World.

My little Karen

Post for Friday, January 6, 2023

Thursday, January 5, 2023, I took the quintuplets to be fixed and was given the bad news that Karen had hepatitis. 

I followed the vet's instructions and had them sleep by themselves in the mudroom to give them time to heal. I checked on them throughout the night and they all seemed to be doing fine even Karen.

In the morning I fed them and then allowed them to go outside as usual. I was glad to see that Karen ate well and I went about my day. I go outside often to change their water, chase off the neighbor's free-range chickens, hang clothes, and do yard work.

From left to right Karen (whose face you can not see), Mikey, Sam, and Darla. The only one missing was Mónica.

It was on one of those outings that I saw Karen laying down in the full sun and I went to see why. I woke her up but she was not moving much so I picked her up and brought her inside. I tried to make her drink water and some food but she wanted neither. That is when I realized that she was in her last hours.

I placed her in a little box on top of the ice chests in the kitchen and held her paw as I reassured her that I would be with her till the end. There was no doubt she suffered, her little body would twitch and she would groan. She passed away at 3:05 p.m. on Friday, January 6, 2023.

The reason she has that green color on her tummy is that the Mexican Vet's tattoo feral cats so other veterinarians know that the cat has been spayed or neutered and they do not have to open her again. In the USA they notch one of their ears.

I have not wanted to make a post on Walter's World because I have been sad and needed time to process her passing. My cousin was livid, he said the vet should not have operated on her once he realized she was sick. However, I disagree and told him I was glad I found out she was ill or I would have wondered why a six-month-old cat would have died suddenly. 

She was so sweet and loving and I am grateful for the six months that she was in my life.

The quintuplets got spayed and neutered

Post for Thursday - January 5, 2023

Once again I barely slept last night fearing I would oversleep and not get the quintuplets to the vet in time for their surgery. It was cold this morning but I bundled up so I could put the cats inside their pet crates before they fully woke up and wanted to eat as they had to be "en ayunas" which means "fasting" in Spanish. After doing that, I placed them in the car as their cries brought around the other cats to see what was going on.

I had to feed the others before I left and fight off the darn chickens from Walter's former owner that have been making my life a living hell as they try to eat their food if I am not there to run them off. Will write about that in a separate post.

In the front seat, I placed Sam and one of the gingers, I want to say, Darla?

Yeap, it was Darla. The gingers look a lot alike.

This is Mikey who got the older and bigger crate. I wanted to place Sam and him together but was afraid that if I opened the crate he would try to run away...so he got to ride solo.

I have bought two more pet crates since my last post with dual openings at the top and the traditional front door. Anyone who has had to struggle with a pet will agree that a top latch is much easier to maneuver when it comes to placing them inside.

This is Karen which I ended up naming by mistake because I confused her with Mikey who is the troublemaker of the bunch.

Crossing into México took seven minutes and I had no problem finding a parking spot in front of Clinica Veterinaria Chavarria. It took me longer to get the four crates down than it took for them to call me.

They have three veterinarians but the main vet (the owner of the clinic) is the one that usually performs most of the surgeries. The other two examine the animals, weigh them, and if they have not had their shots they make sure to administer them before surgery. Two of the cats had not been there before since I was not able to catch them back in September 2022 and needed their shots and to be dewormed.

The two cats were also given formal names. One of the ginger cats turned out to be a male and since he eats so much I named him Mikey and the three-color darker one is a female now answering to the name of Monica.  

On the past two occasions that I took cats to be fixed they were ready by noon but today they had a full operating room and they asked me to come for them after five o'clock. I needed to run several errands so I decided to stay in Ciudad Acuña rather than make two border crossing trips.

Even though it was cold this morning it did not take long for it to warm up and I had to ditch the jacket. Finished my errands by 2:30 p.m. so I drove to Gutierrez (a grocery store) that has canvas coverings in the parking lot to keep your vehicle out of the sun's rays. I still had to crack the windows to let air in which made me visible to all the people that peddle their wares so decided to drive back to Clinica Veterinaria Chavarria to try to get a good parking space before the other pet owners arrived.

I went in at 4:00 p.m. just in case they were ready and they were. Dr. Chavarria was talking to his wife (she is the Clinic Administrator) they had the five envelopes with the cats medical records and I guess they were discussing them. I do not know if you recall but when I took three of the quintuplets one of the veterinarians dewormed them at no charge. He told me that he would do the same for the two that were dewormed today.

If that was not enough the other veterinarian (Dr. Chavarria's son-in-law) waived the fee for the two cats that had not been vaccinated. If things could not get any better Dr. Chavarria charged me the rates in effect for last year rather than the new ones that just went into effect as of January 2023. I could not believe my good luck and I thanked them profusely.

Spays are now $2,500.00 and Neuters are $2,300.00 Mexican Pesos. He only charged me $2,300.00 for the females and $2,000.00 for the males. That came to $10,900.00 Mexican pesos since I did not have enough Mexican Currency, I paid in US dollars as I did not want to use a credit card either. The Vet Clinic gives you a better exchange rate if you pay in dollars...which is $19.00 pesos to one USD...$573.68 which he rounded off to $573.00 USD.

However, not all was good news. I had observed that Karen had been sad lately and keeping to herself. She would come and rub herself against my leg when she would see me and wanted to be held which I obliged. Dr. Chavarria said when he made the incision in her tummy all her insides were yellow. I asked what that indicated and he said "she has hepatitis" which is why her eyes are dark yellow almost honey-colored. The only thing I could ask was "is she going to die?". He said he did not know but I should keep an eye on her and make sure she ate and drank water.

He told me to keep all the quintuplets inside tonight to give them time to heal and make sure they ate as soon as we got home. I kept them where they usually sleep in the mudroom/junkroom but I kicked out Suzie and Bianca (the kittens) so they would not bother them.

Unfortunately, I ran out of space in Google Photos and have to purchase a larger subscription. When I do I will upload pictures.

I have not purchased more space...I ended up emailing them to myself which for me takes a long time :-(

Thank you for visiting Walter's World.

Cat Video

I love watching Penny the talking cat and if mine could talk I think they would agree with her. This is not a long video...it is a Short.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YtECS8kBpus