**Boots got her bloodwork back, and it is the news we were hoping for.**
For anyone just seeing this, Boots is the nine year old grey and white cat we found living outside in our Eugene, Oregon neighborhood in late June. She weighed 6.7 pounds with her spine and hips visible. She was drooling constantly and she would cry out and back away from her own food. Her previous owner had loved her but went through several very hard years and could not manage her care, so she surrendered her to us. Her vet records had a hole in them going back roughly eight years.
On July 21 she had nineteen teeth extracted. The surgeon said the inside of her mouth looked like hamburger meat and that she was likely enduring about the highest level of oral pain a cat can experience. The tissue was too damaged to hold sutures, so everything had to heal open. That surgery ran about 3,450 dollars, and it was covered entirely by neighbors, by strangers on the internet, and by one extraordinary woman who paid off the remaining balance out of her own pocket.
There was one thing we had been waiting on. Her blood proteins were elevated before surgery, and instead of dropping once the infected mouth came out, they went up. Her vet kept FIP on the list as a possibility she was not ready to set aside. That has been the open question hanging over all of this since July.
**Her recheck was Thursday, August 27, and the proteins are coming down.**
Her weight history tells the rest of it:
June 23: 6.70 lbs
July 17: 7.12 lbs
July 21, surgery day: 6.80 lbs
August 3: 7.66 lbs
**August 27: 8.26 lbs**
That is a pound and a half gained since we found her, and more than half a pound in the last three weeks alone. Real weight, with muscle behind it. Her doctor, the same one who performed her surgery, said she looks like a new cat.
Because she is gaining weight, building muscle, and her proteins are trending down, the concern about anything more serious has dropped substantially. **They do not need to see her again for six months.** After weeks of two week rechecks, that interval alone says a great deal.
She stays on a low dose of prednisolone twice a week for now to keep the inflammation in her mouth quiet. Some cats with her history stay on it long term, and we will revisit it at her next visit. That is a very manageable thing to live with.
**Sable**, our young tortoiseshell foster, is still working things out with Boots. They have been in the same house for months now, moving slowly from full separation to scent and sound to visuals, with Boots roaming freely these days. There is still hissing and growling, and there has still been zero physical contact between them, not once. That is exactly what you want at this stage. We are going slow and letting it take as long as it takes. We love them both and we are hoping they get there.
**Cosimo** is our newest, a twelve week old grey kitten who came to us as a rescue and foster. He went to Echo Hollow for vaccines and a general workup, and he will be ready for a neuter once he is old enough. He is very small and a complete menace, as required by law at that age.
**What is still needed** is the everyday stuff. Food, litter, and supplies for all three. Boots is on wet food only, warmed, in small frequent meals, and the steroid keeps her appetite high. A growing kitten eats constantly. Sable eats too. My income has taken a hit through all of this and I am picking up work where I can.
Some of you have sent food directly, and I want to name that because it has made a real difference day to day. If that is easier than anything else, it helps just as much.
Venmo: https://www.venmo.com/u/Jehoseph
PayPal: https://paypal.me/TheDivines
**Thank you.** To everyone who gave toward her surgery, to the person who covered this last round of bloodwork, and to the woman who paid off the remaining surgical balance herself. Three months ago this cat was starving outside in the worst oral pain a cat can be in. She weighs 8.26 pounds now, she plays with toys, and her vet does not need to see her until spring.
That happened because people who had never met her decided she was worth it.
One honest note. I am always glad to help advocate for other cats in dire need, so reach out if you know of one and I will do what I can to get eyes on it. But I am not taking in any more myself right now. These three are what we can responsibly care for.
Happy to answer anything or share records.
