Oh Those Stunning Blue Eyes!

With new camera in hand, now I can post pictures regularly once again! These are the latest additions to the sanctuary, a couple of handsome blue-eyed guys. There are some "hazards" associated with my job as a veterinary technician, both good & bad. Poppy is the result of one of the good ones - he has the chance for a new life while I have the opportunity to help a really cool kitty. He suffers from IBD (irritable bowel disease) which flares with stress. The household he was in has kitties who liked to beat him up, and with multiple cats his family found it difficult to medicate or do diet trials to help ease his symptoms. Here, he is one big love bug who loves everyone including the dogs (and he kind of likes MeiLi too!) He's eating a boiled hamburger/potato diet now, plus taking supplements, antibiotics and steroids. He appears to be feeling much better!

This is Austin, who also has beautiful blue eyes (trust me on this one, he closed them for every picture I took!) He has a very sad story with a happy ending, thanks to Hannah at New Beginnings for Animals in Orange County. His former owners relinquished him to the Orange County Animal Shelter after they found him injured as a result of being caught in the family car's fanbelt (yes, they threw this poor boy outside in their garage to live). He suffered from burns on his body which healed with lots of TLC from New Beginnings. They noticed that he drooled some too, so he went to the vet to address his dental care. His pre-anesthetic work-up found an enlarged heart. The diagnosis - hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease in which areas of the heart muscle thicken and enlarge. It can be medically managed, but definitely reduces his chances of finding a forever home, so he came to spend his remaining days with us. He takes multiple medications including low-dose aspirin therapy to lower his chances for blood clots in the wrong places. He's living in the Cabana, where Leonard has made sure he feels welcome!