Baxter's heart

This is the story of Baxter. In October 2012, this tiny kitten was found alone at a dump on the Red Lake Reservation. He was taken to Red Lake Rosie's Rescue cuddled in a fur hat -- no more than two weeks old (see original blog post here and photos below). I picked him up from the transport and made arrangements for him to go to an experienced foster home for bottlefeeding. It was touch and go more than once, but when he was eating on his own he moved to another foster home with Kelley who already had another lonely-only kitten so they could have friends.

UPDATES FROM FOSTER HOME WITH KELLEY:

Check out another blog post: here.

December 19, 2012 

The news is pretty good overall- Baxter does have a heart murmur, and it is significant at 2 mm, but it is not moving a lot if blood. Dr. Ralph wants to see him at 6 months. It won't get better, but also shouldn't get bigger, and he is doing just fine. He is small because he is a preemie or genetically small. He will probably stay small. Needs to watch weight gain, and eat extra healthy food. That will mean that his humans will always have to be careful about his weight and diet, no fat kittyness or his heart will get strained. Also teeth, which I will need to find out more about, his teeth need to stay healthy. 

He did really well during the ultrasound and his heartbeat was good and strong. He also has a big heart for his size, which dr. Ralph said he will just have to grow into. I thought that was just awesome. His appetite is good, he is eating plenty. I don't know what all this means for Baxter, but if he needs follow up care, he might as well stay here. There isn't a surgeon in MN according to Dr. Ralph who would or could fix his heart, but for now he is ok. Everything else seems really healthy.

Baxter has such a sense of adventure with food. Well, cats will eat CHEESE yes, but BLUE CHEESE? That is just weird. Baxter also eats:

Tomato sauce

Dog food

Donuts

Toaster pastries (pop tarts)

Cheese puffs

Evergreen needles

Pad thai

He is the size of my hand. He eats like a trucker. Weighed Baxter, he is almost 2 pounds. He is still ridiculously tiny, but no one can say he isn't a great eater! Last night he hopped right up onto my plate and helped himself. Can we say entitled?

Baxter is just Baxter. He loves everyone and everything. He kisses, he snuggles, then he runs off to explore. Did I mention the 6 foot pine scented cat toy? Ohmahgerd. I just follow them with the bottle of bitter apple to see what they are going to chew next. :)

Willi and Baxter

February 26, 2013 

Baxter is currently running amok throughout the house chasing his tail, Willi (his foster kitten sister), his mousie, and annoying poor Casey, our new cat boarder who is on the wait list for the shelter. He is a little bundle of love. I haven't had kittens that were bottle fed before, and he has Terrible boundaries! In my face, in my food, has to sleep attached to me. But he loves everyone. He is going to go with me to speak to a group of students about cat rescues. 

He has these hilarious lynx point ear tips, and he is still so slinky and skinny, but eats everything. He does have an issue with wanting to be held while eating so he goes back and forth between me and the food. We are working on that. 

Baxter needs to go back to get an ultrasound at 5 months and then we will know a little more about what his future holds. He won't get fixed until I know he can survive anesthesia. 

So pretty much life as usual at Camp Leaf. :)

May 8, 2013
I went to work this morning because I had a few things I had to do, but blah. Not important. I picked up Baxter and my husband and off we went for ultrasound. Baxter cheerfully hopped in the carrier and barely squawked the whole long drive to Southview. As we were walking to the door with the carrier, Boris and my other cats made a point to come running over to sniff him, even putting up paws so they could see him in the carrier. Exactly like they were giving him moral support.

The news is not good. Bax has an inoperable significant murmur that did not improve as he got older. His heart is enlarged, and is already showing signs of strain. One side is thickening and the other atrophied in response to the irregular blood flow. It won't get better. He is still tiny for his age- six pounds at 7 months, but Dr. Ralph said he won't get much bigger which is good- his heart won't work as hard.

 Bax was so good- I couldn't look away from the monitor so my husband held him with the tech while they were doing the ultrasound. Dr. Ralph was really thorough and checked everything- it took a long time. His heart goes moosh moosh instead of thub thub. It's actually a pretty interesting process.

He can get fixed (yeah tutored!) but will need to lead a quiet life. We were all pretty quiet on the way home. Husband gave him some solid gold which he woofed down- the boy has a healthy appetite. I am back at work thinking about what is really important. I know in the scheme of things our first world problems like the loss of Renee's kittens and Baxter's heart shouldn't feel like the end of the world, but they still do. I guess because we fix the problems we can fix, and some weird freaky people just don't care about cats.

Baxter will lead a happy life while he is here, and represent Feline Rescue and Rosie's at events because working is fun for him. If his prognosis was good I was preparing to let him go, and I could have, but now, I think he is going to stay with his family at Camp Leaf. He will probably live to be 20 just to prove everyone wrong.

 

Later on May 8, 2013
Baxter was waiting for me when I got home. Everyday my doggy, Boris and Baxter wait for me and run to meet me when I get home. He purred and shows no sign that he is anything other then a happy boy. All the Leaf cats have Russian names. Baxter's official Leaf cat name will be Alexei, after another sick little prince. I just let Cathy (Feline Rescue foster coordinator) know we failed foster (again) sigh. She asked if I would keep him as a foster, um NO. But I will keep him as our cat. Alexei Kelleyovich Leaf, otherwise known as Baxter.

Autumn/Baxter growing up

Autumn was the tiniest kitten ever to come to Red Lake Rosie's Rescue. After careful and exhausting mothering for a week or so, he came down to Feline Rescue to continue his care in a foster home with another lonely only orphaned bottle baby named Willie. Both had name changes when their gender was determined. Autumn became Baxter, the brown tabby boy, and Willy became Willi, the black and white girl. Willi will be ready for adoption soon, but Baxter has a significant heart murmur which is probably responsible for him growing so slowly. He and his foster family are very happy together as you can see in their update:

Both kittens are doing well.

Willi will be going to the V.E.T. soon for her (operation, shhh). She is ready to kick the dirt of our home off her paws and move on. She will be a wonderful addition to anyone’s home, she is loving, and funny. She still gives kisses. When you pucker up and make kissy noises she puts her nose up to get kisses. How sweet is that?

Willi is a PICKY eater. She likes her tiny cat royal canin, and when I yell “kitty bits!!!” at the top of my lungs both she and Bax come running to eat. She will eat the tiny cat kibble, too, and paw licken’ chicken but that’s about it.

Willi is dainty and jumpy and has tons of energy. We will miss her, but there is too much noise and confusion and it makes her a bit nervous. You can see from the pictures that she is getting big, and she is just as pretty as can be. She LOVES to snuggle, but flails like crazy when we pick her up unless we quickly wrap her up in arms. I will have to show her adopters how to do that so she doesn’t scratch the heck out of them. 

Baxter, oh that boy. I put in the picture of the croc for size comparison. I have never had a cat that tiny have free range in the home. He has grown legs and a tail, and he is all skinny-cat energy. He moves constantly until he is exhausted and falls asleep where he is. He eats anything; this week’s offerings include pizza crust, green salsa and soy milk. He LOVES to eat, and still gets distracted so he has to eat with supervision.

Baxter loves us all, husband, son, dog, cats, everyone. He greets me at the door every day when I get home along with Sophie (my dog) and Boris the Incorrigible (the orange tabby). Baxter is underfoot ALL THE TIME. I can’t tell you how many times he has almost been stepped on, and he always scoots out of the way. He is tiny, but fast.

His special friend is Uncle Boris who he cuddles with whenever possible.

The black Kitty is Choco-Latte Leaf, (my son’s cat) and they are also very good friends.

Baxter and Willi still fight and play and fight and play. Baxter gets covered when he eats, and Willi or one of the big kitties cleans him off. “tastes like chicken!”

They both sleep with us everynight like the entitled little monsters that they are.

One last hilarity- I tried to get a picture but the only time Baxter is still now is when he is eating or tired. When he is playing he gets up on his back paws and spreads his front paws like he is an anteater. I can almost hear him saying “I am Baxter the Mighty!!! Fear my wrath!” he is a fearless little man.

Autumn/Baxter and She/Willy

Autumn (now Baxter) the very tiny lonely-only kitten from Red Lake Rosie's Rescue and his Feline Rescue lonely-only buddy Willy are off bottlefeeding at last and have moved to a new foster home. They are much loved and Willy apparently still won't stand still for a photo -- s/he's always a blur...

AUTUMN/BAXTER

UPDATES FROM NEW FOSTER MOM
NOV. 29, 2012:
Baxter continues to do fantastic. He has a hard time deciding between his two favorite things, cuddle or eat? Cuddle or eat? We solve that by taking turns. He eats for a few seconds, gets distracted, runs to get cuddles, and then I put him back in front of the food dish. This is sure to cause some major issues when he is older- we will deal with the therapy later.

Willy simply will not sit still. He is so happy when it’s play time, he runs CRAZY all over my blocked off living/dining room, chasing his tail, chasing my dog, chasing Baxter. It makes his life easier to wait until Baxter is not eating to come and get snacks. Bax will sit in the food dish, scoop the food to himself with his teeny paws, and then growl at Willy.

WILLY

Willy has NO time for cuddles. He is at the “GEEZ MOM NO!” stage right now, and struggles when he is picked up. This is what we at Camp Leaf refer to as “Tough Love” as in Tough, Kid. You are GOING to get love. He will suffer about three licks when Boris (the resident cat) is trying to clean him. Baxter on the other hand LOVES uncle Boris, and will sit still happily. I am keeping a watchful eye, because not only is Baxter tiny, he also smells like delicious kitten food (because he crawls in it). I don’t think Boris is cleaning him out of love. He tastes like chicken.

DEC. 5, 2012:
Oh geez. Oh geez oh geez.

Willy is great, 2 lb. 5 OZ. Also Willy is a girl (explains a LOT) I forgot to ask the Vet yesterday (they went yesterday) to sex her for sure, but she appears to have little girl parts and not boy parts. We held up butts for comparison. High culture at our house.

BAXTER

Oh Baxter. Sigh. Baxter has a heart murmur. It’s is serious enough that he is being referred to get an ultrasound so we know what we are dealing with. Dr. Dan heard it yesterday. It is probably not the type that goes away, given his age. He said that is probably the reason Bax is so tiny, and he IS tiny for his age. I called Cathy, and she is making a referral for an expert to do the ultrasound. She said she will set it up for next week. He weighed 1 pound, 6.5 OZ. so he is still gaining, and he eats all the food I can stuff in him.

Bax is doing really well. We decided not to tell him he has a heart condition. He is pretty fearless for one so tiny, and he will investigate the whole living room during playtime. He bops my dog on the nose, and rubs against all the big cats, they LOVE him.

Willy is a bit more persnickety (girl cat). She is now clipped of her evil cat talons of doom. Front and back. My neck looks like I’ve been tortured. She was actually really good about the clipping, too. Baxter, not so much. I had to wait until he was asleep and ambush him.

Thank god for no kill shelters. My husband already threatened to chain himself to something if anyone talks about euthanasia (unless it’s a pain and suffering issue).

Bottle babies growing up

Remember the four little kittens brought into the last clinic? They went to a foster for Act V and were lovingly bottle fed for weeks.

Remember the even tinier lonely only that came in to Red Lake Rosie's Rescue a week or so later -- Autumn, now Baxter? He ended up with Feline Rescue at a foster home with another teeny tiny lonely only.

Of the group of four boys, the smaller tabby Moe and the Siamese-looking Simon have been neutered and adopted already! They are resting here after their surgery.

Orange Fezzik and the bigger tabby Larry are waiting for their adopters to appear.
FEZZIK

LARRY

Finally, Baxter and his buddy, Willy, have gained weight and started eating on their own so they are moving to another foster home. It will be another month or two before they are ready for adoption, but all is well.

Update on bottle babies

UPDATE FROM THE ACT V FOSTER MOM OF THE OCTOBER CLINIC DITCH KITTENS:
I thought I would send you a quick update on the kittens. They are doing fabulous! I can tell they have grown already when I pick them up to potty them. They are starting to walk much better, too.
SIMON

The scratchy thing I had that I gave them, they are really putting it through its paces. They love to climb up on it and paw at their brother has he walks by. I’ve been trying to give them some play time after they eat and potty since they are really starting to wrestle.
FEZZIK

I bought some balls with bells in them and Larry loves to bat them around. The others, not so much. Larry seems to be the first to do everything!
LARRY

They have given up their midnight feeding – and up to eating two cans of food a day! They still like their milk before bed.
MOE

They are just so cute and loving. There will be some pretty lucky owners to get these babies!

UPDATE ON AUTUMN (NOW BAXTER) AND HIS NEW BUDDY WILLIE FROM FELINE RESCUE BLOG:

We are ever grateful to the volunteers who take on bottle babies. Feeding kittens and pottying them around the clock every three to four hours is exhausting.

Willie and Baxter (aka Autumn) are two of our newest bottle babies.  Willie was brought to our shelter one evening cold and thin, and Baxter was transported from Red Lake Rosie's Rescue.

Here is Willie - he is so hard to photograph! He really is a beautiful kitten.

Current pic of Autumn/Baxter asking for a drink!

After lots of love and medical attention they are both doing well.

September 26 transport

We were very blessed to have another transport on Sunday, September 26. Karen and Geri met Nancy and Carolyn in Bemidji to send off a nice group of dogs/puppies and one kitten named Jazzy. They went on to Motley to meet our faithful transporter Barbie Olson who took the kids the rest of the way. She also delivered food and supplies.

BAILEY & BAXTERBaily and Baxter to Tricounty.

CREEKDARVINGRACIE & MYAPet Haven is taking Creek, Darvin, and 2 puppies.

Mike and Lauren are fostering Jazzy, a small kitten. Animal Ark is taking Maggie, a 3-legged dog, that will be going to the Lawsons in foster care. Maggie needs to go to the Animal Ark first. More news on Jazzy and Maggie in a future post.

BLUE BOYBlue boy to All Dog

Peace- Karen