Super Saturday: Weekly Updates...Fearghuis Rioghan

I haven't done a Super Saturday post in awhile so I thought now would be a good time to do some updates!  Starting with the one above! Most of you probably already know I have two kitties, Aoife and Caoimhe.  Well this past weekend I adopted another kitty who has been named Fearghuis.  Unfortunately, Fearghuis did not come to me in the best shape.  In fact, he's in quite bad shape.  On Saturday after I picked him up and brought him home I noticed he was breathing very loudly and his breath was quite rattled.  He was wobbly when he walked, his teeth and ears looked filthy and when I bathed him to get the smell of cat urine off him (which took TWO baths and a foam bath) I noticed he was incredibly thin. He was advertised by the "rescue" (and I use that term VERY loosely) as a Chocolate Point Himalayan.  I was told he was healthy, fully up to date on shots, kept in a foster HOME with one other cat and was 9lb.  Since he was a bit far and because of how the rescue organization works, I had to fill out and be approved for adoption before I was permitted to see any of the cats they foster.  At the time I understood it as being for the purposes of making sure when they set these appointments it isn't a waste of their time.  Now I feel very differently about that.  When I arrived to look at him I was given a quite limited amount of time to look him over and the foster parent was not available for me to speak to. Instead the adoptions are done at the home of the woman who runs the "rescue".  She explained his runny eyes, saying they hadn't been wiped that day and that he often has runny eyes when he drinks.  His fur being quite fluffy as he's a Himalayan, it was difficult to see how thin he really was and she said she wasn't sure his exact weight but thought he was around 7 or 8lb (he's actually closer to 5.5lb).  He's clearly not a Chocolate Point either, he's very obiously a Seal Point and she agreed that his breeder had indicated he was a Seal but that she personally felt he was a Chocolate. At any rate...

Here he is AFTER two baths (and a foam bath) and several face cleanings. His eyes didn't open further than this when I brought him home.  I had him to my vet a few days after I this and it turns out he's riddled with infections.  Poor little guy needs to gain about 2 or 3lb, he's missing patches of fur from malnutrition and until yesterday he could barely see or breathe because his eyes constantly crust over and he's so congested when he leans his head forward he can't breathe at all.  After some TLC (and lots of antibiotics and supplements) he's doing MUCH better today.  He can finally see, he's had more energy and is starting to play and he can lean his head forward to eat and drink now.  He's going to need some additional tests before we'll know for certain if we can keep him (our vet indicated that he may have things which would put our current kitties at risk) and he's not fully vaccinated but can't get those until he's doing better.  So he's taking up quite a bit of my time lately. My vet was uncertain if the age they gave us was accurate at just over 2 years and his paperwork is all crossed out and written over so that's not promising either.  They also told us at my vet he's probably been kept in VERY close quarters with more than a few other cats (probably in a kennel not freely roaming a home) and has likely been underfed and uncared for most if not all of his life.  

I'll try to keep you guys updated on how he does from here out but for now it's been pretty exhausting trying to nurse him back to health.  The nice thing is he's pretty affectionate so I've gotten lots of snuggles lately. :)  Hopefully I'll be back to having time to polish very soon! Hope you're all having a great week and for those in the US, a nice holiday!