babyj, I did exactly what you are doing with my cat. At that time, HL (Hepatic Lipidosis) was a death sentence, so I got no support from my vet other than weekly blood tests to see if what I was doing was doing any good. I don't know what food you're feeding, but I used a prescription formula (Science Diet A/D) mixed with a little water. A/D is highly digestible and much more soupy than regular canned food so not only is it easier to pass thru the syringe, it's a high calorie food so you don't have to feed as much. It does sound as though you're not giving enough. Try to give 20-30cc at each feeding. Cats should have 100-150 cc's a day for weight maintenance, so you should really ramp up the food intake if possible. Just get as much as you can into her. I found that Momo didn't do the syringe so well, so I eventually ended up scooping it out of the bowl w/my finger and wiping it across the top of her mouth. It was EXTREMELY messy, and I'm sure that we lost a good bit of food with all the flinging she did (she was anorexic and didn't want to be fed) but apparently it worked. She was severely jaundiced, and smelled of liver. The other cat wouldn't go near her. There were nights when I was sure I'd wake up in the morning and she'd be gone. It took about 3 months doing that before she started eating on her own. Another thing that really seemed to help was getting vitamin B12 shots once a week--after I started doing that, she started to improve pretty quickly. I wish you the best of luck and will be praying for you and Cali. Feel free to email me if you have any questions, or want any support.

Overall, I'm seeing a push of new growth-perfect for this time of year. Yes, there is that one spot of blemish and it does indeed remind me of what a good-sized male dog (is that redundant? Yes it is) can do just after lifting it's leg. Of course, there could be other explanations but the main point is that what you have there is a healthy spruce tree. Did you want it to be something else, lol?

I used Miracle Gro Moisture Control Organic Soil (I bought a big bag at Costco and used it for other plants, so it is what I had here). The pot does have some drainage holes on the sides and drains out into a saucer shapped edge. I rarely (if ever) water it to the point where water comes out of the drainage spots though. When I repotted the plant the soil was very moist. The roots didn't look alarming, but to be honest, I don't exactly know what I am looking for. I have been encouraged to see some small new growth on it, but want to be sure I'm doing the right thing to let that new growth have a chance. I also don't want to throw away a viable plant, but if there is no hope, I will move on.

NHBabs, It was about 5 years old. I purchased it when it was in a 1 gallon pot and it reached 4' from that time to now. It was doing well and had a nice flowering this year. I did find out what the problem was and as gardengal said, it was not fire blight. I brought pictures on my phone to the cooperative extension and they said it was root rot and pointed out all the features that confirm that diagnosis for them. Besides the leaves staying on the shrub, the bark on the trunk peeled away easily and the cambium had turned an orange color. They said if I were to dig up the plant I would find that the soil around and deep into the root ball would be moist and the outer layers of the roots would peel away easily too. Sure enough, after digging up the plant I found this to be the case. I was told not to put any other shrub in that area and to dig out as much as the soil in that area and the surrounding area and dispose of it. Then fill the hole with new topsoil and amendments and don't disturb the area further. Also, they stressed the need to clean equipment and avoid walking all over the rest of the garden if I got some of that soil on my shoes. They said that I can add fungicide to the soil but there is no guarantee that this will get rid of the disease. Since I live in an area where the soil is sandy drainage was not the problem but they think between the excessive heat and the fact that we were getting downpours in between, and I was watering at night to make sure the plants didn't die in the heat that the plant might have gone over the edge with too much of a good thing. I don't think it helped that I also fertilized right after flowering and the plants suffered some light fertilizer burn but nothing major, about 2 months before this. In any event they seemed to recover quickly. I was also advised not to fertilize in the future and the only thing I should be doing if the plants start to look strange, like light colored leaves, was to have the ph checked. Sure is going to look strange without a plant in that area in the future. Looks like I'll have to get creative and add some kind of ornament in that area to balance it out.