 |
| AO can't stop purring! |
September 22, 2012--"Alex and Donovan have fit in amazingly fast and well..and they are a joy every day..everyone that has met them loves them!! They both have amazzzzing puurrsonalities, and are good snugglers, players, and also have really good cat breath!!! When I approach Alex, she "barks" at me with affection..which makes me melt every time..Donovan is very suave..and brings a lot of style to our place..he is soooo sweeeet!! Everyone gets along!!!"
**********************************************************************************
June 5, 2012--Alex Olivia and Donovan traveled home to Indiana yesterday. It was a very long ride, but they made it safely, and are now enjoying their new home. I am so happy for them, their new Mom Jeanne, and all the other critters in the home.Thanks so much to the White clan for driving them from Maryland to Indiana.
 |
| Holly (right) says her goodbyes to AOandD. |
 |
| Alex Olivia in transit. |
 |
| Donovan in transit. |
 |
| Jeanne (left) picks up her new joys! |
******************************************************************************
May 6, 2012--AO&D have the commitment of a home together with Jeanne and her crew. Jeanne adopted Brooklyn from the NYCACC last fall with DCIN's help. We know that AO&D will love their new home. Both Jeanne and Holly have friends traveling between Baltimore and Indiana soon who are options for ground transports for these two. We will be sure to let you know when this loving pair is at their new home and how they are doing. ~Venita
********************************************************************************************************
March 8, 2012--Updates on AO and Donovan from the comments below:
Monica said...****************************************************************************
I am curious about their names, especially Alex Olivia. Who named them? What's the story?
March 6, 2012 3:05 PM
hollybee said...
HI Monica! Actually they came into the shelter with those names, provided by the 'owners' who dumped them there. I believe they turned in at least one other cat, and she went to rescue. I love that Alex Olivia has two names, I think that is so cute! Their names fit them perfectly....they are like Ward and June Cleaver, Donovan is the nice guy who would mow your lawn for you, while AO is the one who would make a casserole for you when you are ill. How anyone could shove them into a carrier and drop them at a kill-shelter is beyond me......they quickly became staff favorites and a plea went out to save them.
A rescue I work with (specializing in adult cats) was set to take them in, but needed to leave AO and D at the shelter for a couple of weeks while they moved location of their group home. During that time, AO got very stressed and began showing signs of being diabetic, boy was she a mess when I got her (we agreed to foster them since there are bowls of dry food at the rescue which wouldn't be good for her). She had diarrhea, a nasty URI, had lost half her fur, etc. I got a crash course on diabetes and we got her off insulin in about 6 weeks! She has been happy and healthy ever since, with the loyal support of her hubby Donovan, who is always quick to provide her with a face bath.....we actually just had an incident over the weekend with her getting a stomach bug, which I will post separately about. The good news is, because of that I had bloodwork and x-rays done, and she got a clean bill of health! Everything looks wonderful, even her gums and teeth are nice, the vet couldn't believe she was 11 : ) Thanks for asking about them! I wish I knew more about the origins of their names too.....it's rare (I think?) to hear of someone giving their cat/dog two names : )
March 7, 2012 9:23 AM
hollybee said...
Just a quick health update on Alex Olivia! We had a bit of a scare a couple days ago when AO (who has exhibited stellar health since going OTJ almost a year ago) started vomiting and having diarrhea. Poor thing couldn't keep anything down or in. Last week we had a temporary foster in our home, and although we kept him separated from the other cats, I must have inadvertantly carried some germs from one room to the next. He was from the streets, from a bad section of town, but I am happy to report he's already in a new home.
Anyway, I whisked AO off to one of the vets we use at our TNR clinics. She ruled out anything abnormal in the stool sample, and took x-rays and did bloodwork to make sure AO didn't get into anything she wasn't supposed to. Her x-rays looked great, except her intestines were full of gas and the walls were thickened. This was indicative of a viral or bacterial infection so she stayed the day at the vet on IV and received antibiotics. We brought her home last evening and she did great throughout the night, so I just got back from taking her in to have her IV catheter removed.
She is GREAT at the vet - very laid back, purrs the whole time, sits on my lap or on the scale : ) The only 'stress' related thing I noticed was that her ears turn fire red, like she is embarrassed or something, I had never seen that in a cat before......in addition to great x-rays (no signs of any tumors or anything else awry) her bloodwork was stellar! Of course her BG was up a bit, but that was to be expected. A couple other values were slightly elevated, but all were related to what she was going through. Her platelets, etc were perfect, yippee! So, if anything good came out of this, it's that we have a current full blood workup and x-rays on her as we keep moving forward in trying to locate their forever home!
March 7, 2012 9:35 AM
hollybee said...
Forgot to mention, her teeth and gums looked great too....vet couldn't believe she is 11!
March 7, 2012 9:53 AM
February 26, 2012--A video of Alex Olivia with her kitten-like energy. Please consider adopting AO and Donovan. They must be placed soon. They are on DCIN's 911 list.
*****************************************************************************
We're going to have to rent a place out there and it's going to be hard enough with our 4 permanents.....we are going to be working hard to get all of our fosters placed (we currently have 4). Even if we could take them, Donovan is not happy not being able to be king of the fiefdom around here, and we'll be lucky to get a place out there 1/3 the size of this house......so he definitely wouldn't be a happy camper ;(DCIN is now rating Alex and Olivia as 911. Although their lives are not in danger at this time, we have no idea what the future holds in a few months if they don't find a new situation. Alex Olivia hasn't been on insulin for almost a year. So a diabetic-friendly home is one we need to find--someone who will feed low-carb wet or raw food and test AO's BG levels from time to time.
*************************************************************************
February 1, 2012--A video of AO and Donovan.
****************************************************************************
 |
| Alex Olivia |
Yes, I have Miss AO and D still, coming up on one year.......we had a party yesterday and Donovan was the life of it ~ he is SOOOOO social, it was really fun to see! AO was very social, but she let people come to her instead : ) It was a party for our TNR group so everyone here loved cats.....
AO is very, very laid back......her favorite thing is to find a really comfy spot to snooze......and she LOVES for you to find her and give her rubs - she'll reward you with a squeaky meow, and a purr as big as the sun. Donovan is a curious kitty - he wants to see what's going on all the time. We'd love to get these two into a permanent home - Donovan is a bit antsy. Our male cat Beau only tolerates other male cats for a few months before he starts giving them the cold shoulder. Donovan would LOVE a home where he can have 'responsibility' - other cats would be fine, but he'd like to be the one with all the responsibility, to take care of the others and his humans, to be looked up to. The cat density here is a little too much for him and since we foster we have other cats come and go, so he's never quite sure what his 'role' is here.
Both are 'bed cats'.....LOVE to sleep in bed with you : ) AO's health is perfect these days......I randomly test her about once a month, she remains OTJ and thrives on a mix of Sophistocat/Fancy Feast. At the party yesterday, people couldn't believe how well she looked, they all remember the pics I first posted of her!**********************************************************************************
October 2011--New pictures, and they are gorgeous!!
 |
| Donovan |
**************************************************************************
June 3, 2011--I was in Baltimore today, and stopped in to meet Alex Olivia and Donovan and their foster Mom, Holly.Yes, I got waylaid four times by the four gray/gray tiger, 9-week old kittens in the front room. Ferals babies being socializing. "Take us home!!!" they quietly whispered in between their baby hisses. "Yes, I want to, but can't," I sighed in response.
I first met Donovan. He has the most awesome, thick but short medium-gray fur. Maybe five white pieces of hair on his chest. He likes to be petted, but doesn't at times, and will lightly nip to instruct the uninitiated in the proper way and time to pet. He doesn't mind sprawling on the dining table for his pets. Donovan not only looks after Alex Olivia, he worships her. He bathes her face. He follows her around. He worries if someone (stranger me) approaches her.
Alex Olivia is a quiet, well-mannered girl. To my way of thinking, she still needs to add some weight. Her diabetes has been diet controlled since early March. Sometimes, Holly told me, AO seems to not want as much attention as Donovan gives her. Yes, us fickle women. Complaining when we are worshiped.
These two cats would cause no ruckus in a household. They hang together, taking their own space in Holly's home. They seem to be each other's everything, but still have room in their hearts to love people.
Holly is an awesome woman. Among her many achievements are fostering for the Howard County Cat Club and coordinating the volunteers for the monthly spay/neuter clinics for Community Cats Maryland, a TNR group. I had a most enjoyable two hours with Holly and the ten cats that live with her.
********************************************************************************
February 24, 2011--
Alex Olivia and her lifelong mate Donovan (not diabetic) are in foster care with Holly for Howard County Cat Club, a rescue group in Baltimore, MD. Alex Olivia (AO) is the tabby and Donovan is the grey. We really would like to see these two placed together, as they are highly bonded.
Why were these two turned into an animal shelter?Their 'owner' brought them in because they had 'too many animals' at home......I guess they were doing some spring cleaning ; (AO and Donovan are 10 years old and front declawed. They are eating Wellness CORE wet. AO is 7-8 pounds, thin but gaining weight (she had lost weight while at the shelter).
They quickly became staff favorites because they are just so darn sweet, so a plea went out to save them.......
Both kitties are VERY laid back. We have four permanent kitties and one other foster - Alex Olivia and Donovan have integrated perfectly, with no altercations. We have one room that is dedicated to fosters and that is where Alex Olivia spends all of her time (there is a low barrier, which Donovan jumps sometimes to go exploring the rest of the house, then he jumps back in to spend time with his 'woman'). I have left the barrier open at times and our other cats have been free to wander in. Alex Olivia enjoys picking a new spot every day to sleep and appears quite content. She tolerates being glucose tested using her ear VERY well. She will sit in your lap and let you lance her ear and do the test. She does not even notice when you give her the insulin shot. She has a very loud purr, a little meow, and will sit in your lap and rub on you. Both are just the sweetest, most laid back, low-key kitties.Both cats get along with the other cats in the foster home. Their behavior with dogs and children is unknown.
In addition to the photos here, AO and Donovan each have a video:
AO was diagnosed diabetic on February 1, 2011, during a routine exam at the shelter. Although AO's intake exam on January 21, 2011, described her as healthy, the staff observed alopecia, weight loss, lots of water drinking (PD), and lots of pee in litter box (PU). They performed a urine dipstick test and the glucose level was 1000. It appears as though the symptoms manifested themselves during her stay at the shelter. AO has no known history of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
AO's current clinical symptoms include glucose ranging from 109 to 228 mg/dl, some alopecia (as you can see in one of the picture above), and hunger. AO is on .5U of Levemir insulin twice a day. A spreadsheet with her BG readings is here.Both AO and Donovan have some upper respiratory issues from being in the shelter; the shelter put both of them on Clavamox. There is some sneezing and one of AO's eyes is runny, although it's now getting better. Holly adds Viralys (Lysine) to their water (Donovan isn't a fan of it in wet food) and wet food and has been putting Terramycin on AO's eye the past couple of days and that seems to be helping (she had tearing and some mucus).
The two have no behavior problems, such as spraying or inappropriate urination). They both tested negative for FIV/FeLV and were vaccinated in late January/early February 2011. Holly has copies of the records from the shelter. She also has records of AO's full blood panel in February from a private vet. I have contact information for the shelter and the private vet as well as for Holly.
AO and Donovan were meant to enter the rescue's group home and go up for adoption; however, when they found out AO was diabetic this wasn't an option because the rescue's volunteers do not come in on a regular basis. AO would not have been able to receive timely doses of insulin.
I have been fostering cats for various groups for over a year now and help them to adopt out the kitties. Unfortunately I have no experience with diabetes and have relied heavily on the advice of the FDMB group members. Also, in addition to working full time, we have a side business that involves long hours at craft shows/farmer's markets on the weekends--some of this will be overnight travel, the busy season starts in just a few weeks. I tried all of my feline connections to see if anyone else could foster, but either they don't have the experience or they are full.
Alex Olivia and Donovan are not at risk for euthanasia, but you can tell from the above quote from Holly that they need a new placement, if only a foster home, soon.
They truly are a sweet pair of cats that deserve every bit of this second chance they are getting!If you are a member of the FDMB, you can follow AO's progress by searching the posts for member Hollybee.
