Dr. K.B. Gormly, D.V.M.

We now return to KITT-FM, where it's all kittens, all the time. And now, broadcasting live from our studios in Purrbank, Cat-ifornia - heeeere's your hostess, Mother Catresa!

Hi folks,

I have had an exhausting deadline day with newspaper stories today, so I just had to wrap up my day with a quick epistle of the fun, unedited stuff.

Now, unfortunately, the KITT-FM topic isn't nearly as fun this time: it's about my sweet old guy Rum Tum Tugger, who is still quite ill with the respiratory infection he came down with two weeks ago. I took him to the animal ER on July 3, then I had to have him hospitalized overnight a few days later. Since then, he's been on intensive home care. At least once a day, I have to clean off his crusted face, put on the vaporizer, force-feed him with a syringe, and even give him fluids under the skin via a needle and IV bag. I also give him an antibiotic, immune booster and eye ointment twice a day.

The poor guy is hanging in there, but still very congested, and he has no appetite. I am giving him his next dose of the appetite stimulants tonight. Rum Tum definitely has perked up, though, and isn't isolating himself like he was before. The vet thinks he definitely is on the mend. Please keep the 13-year-old orange tabby and white kitty in your prayers. Having Cousin Catnip from the Cornfields here (see my last post) was such a blessing to both me and R.T. She was his roommate, and he got some good cuddle time and morale boosting. Catnip was like the nurse, and I was like the doctor who came in for the treatments, and said, "Syringe, please! Forceps, please!"

Meanwhile, my two kittens - Babe and Brita - remain next door. I am going back and forth between them and R.T. during the evenings, and using up a lot of hand sanitizer. I think the kittens will be going back on Sunday. I hope they forgive me for my slight neglect during the past two weeks. My time has been in much higher demand than usual.

With my newspaper industry in shambles, maybe I should apply to go to vet school. What do you think?

Nah, it's out of the question at this point. But it's always fun to fantasize about what I want to be when I grow up.

Until next time, I remain,

Mother Catresa
Patron Saint of Homeless Felines
(and the "smitten kitten")