Feelin' fine...

Zorro had his post surgery check up today and everything looks good after 2 weeks! His sutures are taking a bit longer than expected to heal, so he will be spoiled with wet food for at least another week. I think he's sick of it though, he's ready to go back to his dry food.

The vet showed me how the hole is all closed up, it's pretty amazing. He has been drinking from Prudences' water dish with no problems, it was hard not to choke up the first time he did it to be honest. (Another crazy cat lady moment)

We figured he would be hurtin after his surgery but we had to keep him from running around, he was happy to be home.  We are happy to have him, especially healthy. It's crazy to think how bad of shape he was in just a few months ago.

Thank you again to everyone who has cared, donated, and/or spread the word. We have the best friends and family. We never imagined that we could pull this off, but everyone showed up for us and the little man and it's greatly appreciated. You all truly have saved his life. :)

We are so very very very close....

Hello all.
It's been a little while. I have to say it's hard to have inspiration when he's being such a stinker. ;) We can definitely tell he's feeling a little better now. Also, I've noticed how much bigger he has gotten; making him curious about everything new he can reach by leaping. It still amazes me how much his growth was stunted. He still isn't as big as his brothers on the farm, and it has taken twice as long to get this big.

Also, I really think that he was affected by not being able to eat and drink freely/easily at a young age. He definitely has OCD. I know cats are in general, but he is very persistent! Especially when it comes to jumping on the counter.

In any event, the biggest news is that due to family emergency, our vet had to reschedule Zorro's surgery. It is now another week away on Tues. Nov. 16.
This only leaves one week of recovery before Thanksgiving, so we might have to have a small Turkey Day celebration in our shoe box apartment with our little delicate boy. I've always wanted one of those 'Felicity' type of Thanksgivings anyways.

I have to say it makes me a bit nervous that he has to go another week. He's been having trouble with his food lately, choking and sneezing more frequently. He has gotten so strong compared to how sick he was not too long ago, though so I'm sure he will be fine, it's only a week.

Big news is that we only need $35.00 to reach our goal!. Donations have slowed down, which is understandable thanks to all of you lovely people who have donated! There are so many of you! Ashley and I have an extra week of tips we can add into the Zorro Jackson/Kitty Cat Fund as my G-ma Alice calls it. We make a small amount of tips as baristas at a local cafe, but it has added up throughout these past few weeks!
It would be great if we could reach our goal, but I'm so grateful that we have gotten so amazingly close no matter what the outcome. Thank you all so much.

oh.. hey, i'm still sick. check my story out in posts below!!!

On a bright note: Joss Parry, Steph Byers & Jamie Morgan, Callie Raymond & Justin Upton have all gave us some donations for little Z' in the past two days!! <3

Ash is in the process of making LOTS of cds & also in the process of making a thank-you card to send to all of our friends & our vets.

Another video of him drinking from his water bottle...

It's hard to catch him on video because he gets too distracted.... 

A new video of him drinking from his water bottle, much better lighting this time. 

In case you haven't heard, we taught him to drink from a rabbit feeder the day after we learned he had a cleft palate. I had a rabbit as a child and thought it could help. Because his head & neck are elevated he doesn't choke on his water anymore! He has been gaining weight steadily since he has learned this and is no longer obsessed with water.Although, he still has trouble with his food even though we have tried elevating it. Of course it doesn't help that he likes to play with his food and knocks it down all the time. 

You can read more about him learning to drink from the bottle in one of the first posts of this blog. :)

It's official surgery is only 1 week away!

Lil' Z-boy's surgery is officially only one week away and we are now even closer to our goal! We received $45 in donations via snail mail today which takes us to $365 total! The surgery will cost around $500-$550 so let's amp up the fundraising for the final week! We have a larger undetermined goal that will depend on what his follow-up appointments will cost, but we will worry about that later! I am so shocked by everyone's love and support, I just can't believe you are all making this happen! Thank you all so much!

& Don't forget to spread the word! We have received several donations from people we don't even know so it definitely helps when others post a link to this blog on your facebook/myspace/twitter/anyothernetworkingsitethatidon'tknowabout. 

As for Zorro, he is still getting strong for his surgery. He has had some intestinal (fun) issues, and after research we think it could be an allergy to grain in his food. Grain is not a normal part of a feline's diet but is in all commercial pet food as a source of protein (instead of meat). Basically this means that on top of everything else, he now must have the best and most expensive food as well. Right now we are trying Before Grain(B.G) and it seems to be working. 

Of course after surgery he will only be able to eat wet food for 2 weeks. Not only will they be spoiled on canned food, but the BEST canned wet food money can apparently buy. B.G. also makes canned food that is 100% meat so we will try that first. It is ridiculously expensive but what can ya do right, he needs it! 

The morale of the story is that this is one very speciialllll kitty who has very special needs! I just can't wait until he can eat and drink without choking, it breaks my heart every time. I am really happy that we scheduled his surgery early because now that his long lasting antibiotic is running out he is sneezing a lot and has what I like to call 'goopies' in his eyes and nose again. I just keep telling him he only has to make it one more week, just one more week!!