Hector's World: Adventures and Mayhem at Mountain View Poultry (or Sequel to The Evolution of Atlas

[robhuncor]

I'm so sorry to hear that Finn is having eye problems. I've followed his story from the beginning and his conversion of the "cat-hater" was so cute. My cat often has swollen red eyes in summer, the vet says due to allergies. So far nothing has really helped him, internally or externally. We just tough it out til the allergy season is over and he gets back to normal but Finn sounds like something worse may be going on. I hope you get it figured out soon.
Mary, I'm so sorry you lost your kitty, it's terrible not knowing what exactly happened. I hope you have a surprise when he suddenly shows back up.

 

[speckledhen]

I agree with Robin, hope your kitty shows up suddenly. Sometimes, I think they go to ground when they are afraid. And I've thought that my neighbor might have been feeding Finn at one time or another or maybe even let him into her house when he wouldn't come when we called. I hope not because we try to control his weight, but she has a cat that he seems to get along with and goes across the road to visit often-it's not a road that is traveled by anyone other than us or folks on ATVs on rare occasion so he's not in much danger of being run over unless he goes further into the neighborhood (which he has-he has a range, apparently).
The lysine supplement should be here Monday or Tuesday and we'll continue putting Terramycin ointment in his eye. He was about 13 lbs, but seems to have lost a bit of weight in the last month, just to look at him. He wasn't fat, by any means, but just a well-filled out, stout, healthy-looking orange tabby. He doesn't eat much. We give him a bit of food twice each day, small amounts, a good dry food in the early morning and wet mid-afternoon, and he still occasionally kills a mouse or bunny, but hasn't in awhile other than when he rousted a nest of them out of my garden about a month ago.

 

[speckledhen]

In Hector's world, Jill is coming out of her broodiness and this is why... Zara has taken over for her, took her nest. Zara has never been broody in her life until now. So, Zara sits in the nest on the floor with Hector sitting in front of her, flanked by both Maddie and Jill. It's bizarre.
Hector's comb blade is drooping over to the right. His big old comb used to be so at attention, but now, it looks so awful.
Finn loves the lysine supplement Mary suggested. I got it in gel form. Who knew cats liked maple flavoring so much? I sure didn't.

 

[1muttsfan]

I can picture the four of them

Are his eyes any better?

Still no sign of my Rusty. I am so sad - he was the sweetest thing ever.

 

[speckledhen]

Are his eyes any better?

I just got the lysine yesterday. It arrived late. He's had three doses so far, so I'll check his eyes tomorrow and see if there is any improvement. Not sure how long it will take to work, but my vet never suggested it (wish he had, so thank you again, Mary).
I'm sorry about Rusty. I still hope he shows up eventually.
I forgot to mention Athena. She sits on the other side of the room looking at her sister, Hector, Maddie and Jill like they've all lost their minds. She's never been broody, either, though their mother, Ida, was broody exactly one time in her life, at about 5 years old.

 

[1muttsfan]

I thought you might have used some Terramycin in them, but maybe you don't have that.

 

[speckledhen]

We do have it and have been using it, Mary. We did skip yesterday, but we put it in there once a day.

 

[speckledhen]

My sweet Hector, who, if I'm being real, is an old guy now, is probably not long for this world. His beautiful comb is hanging over to the side and looks an unhealthy color. He can barely stand or walk, certainly not for any length of time (though he will try to look out for his girls with Herculean effort). He sits almost all the time and if I bring him special food like I did today, he will just collapse on the floor to eat it. He and Jill turned 6 years old in June with the remaining original Brahmas-Bash, Brandy and Bonnie- about two weeks younger than Hector's group. He came into the barnyard like a bull in a china shop, earned the title The Little Tyrant, terrorized the big hens from five weeks old onward and has been such a huge presence ever since he arrived. Sweet old man, my Hector. Atlas is positively ancient at 8 1/2, longest-lived LF BR rooster I ever had and Hector is right behind him. Neither will be here through the winter, IMO. And Bash himself spends a lot more time sitting though he seems okay otherwise. I need to try to get some video of my Hector to show you what I mean.

Adding a 6 min video. I wanted to see how much I could get on here, which is why it's that long, but you get the point just watching half of it.

 

[1muttsfan]

He is such a handsome fellow, with that big beautiful tail. It's so sad to see them go downhill, but you can tell although it's quiet now, he still has that same spirit.

 

[speckledhen]

He is such a handsome fellow, with that big beautiful tail. It's so sad to see them go downhill, but you can tell although it's quiet now, he still has that same spirit.

He is still my Hector, unique among all my roosters. I've never had another with his spunk and presence. He challenged me in ways no others have, but his intelligence was so obvious from the start and he turned into a great leader here for his hens. Thanks for my big guy, Mary. He did give me Maddie and Maddie looks so much like her mama, Jill, I have to look twice to know which one I'm seeing. I really wish I still had Jane, though. Still a mystery why she passed away so young. Jane was really funny and those two were great for comic relief.