The kittens are still grumpy

Well, I called the shelter the other day to get an update on the kits. I was told I would get a callback, but I didn't get one, so I stopped in today to see them.

 Reagor and Stephanie had gone home. I hope they are okay. Mona, Cheryl, and Dana were still there. They had separated them into different cages. I actually screwed up in the names, and they had labeled Dana as Mona. Apparently it was Mona who ended up with a hernia. Dana was the most laid back of the three, just laying in her cage as if to say, come on.. let me out so I can go home. Cheryl just screamed for attention. Mona was an absolute MESS! she had climbed up her cage front repeatedly, and fallen in the water bowl, and had got soaking wet, then went and got in the litter box, then climbed up the front of the cage again. There was litter mud EVERYWHERE!

 Up the side of the cage, all over the cage bars, the bedding, the water bowl, the food bowl, all the toys, and especially her. She looked like a small child who was out making mud puddles. Each one was so happy for the attention, and licked my fingers and played with me, but the second they saw one another, it was hissy time again. I still don't know what happened. I feel horrible cause they can't put them out for adoption because they don't have enough cages out front to give them all their own. I can't help but wonder if some rescue remedy might not help. I wish I could take them home and make them all better, but coming here isn't going to help them, so I just have to leave them in the capable hands of the staff, and accept the outcome.

Good bye good friends (at work)

The kittens were neutered yesterday. They did NOT deal well with it at all. All night they were up screaming and growling at one another. I brought them into "work" and had them looked over. They gave them some more pain drugs.

 I was then fired, so I took the kittens over to the shelter.

There was a big todo over something that seemed innocent enough at the time. My boss, however, is all about appearances, so I got axed. Don't really want to get into it all, as I really just want to get over it all, and enjoy my time home with the "kids". I could spout venom, and it would all be true, but what is the point, really? He'll get his in the end.. cause I truely believe you reap what you sow. My only sadness in this is not being able to hang out daily with my co-workers. For the most part, they were very nice.

Mr P and Mr. T couldn't afford to adopt Reagor and Stephanie this week. I was going to keep them and work with them to get them to them next week (how many times can I write them in a statement???) but since I'm not at the clinic anymore, I fronted them a loan by paying their adoption fees. They should be going home tonight or tomorrow. I'm glad. I don't doubt for a minute they'll pay me back. and even if they don't, I don't really care. I know they are good pet owners and are in a good home.

grrrrrrr

Oh my goodness, do I feel bad. Two of the kittens seem painful after their surgery, Cheryl in particular. They are stressing everyone else out, and the growling hasn't stopped since I brought them home. I should bring Cheryl and Mona in for some help, but I'm not 100% sure how to transport them together to get it. I separated them out, Cheryl in the bathroom, and Mona in the cage, hopefully, that will help everyone else get some sleep - that is everyone except me. Cheryl is crying that she's all alone..

Tomorrow is the big day

The girls at work are getting a big kick out of the names. I knew they knew about it, but I think it is finally sinking in that they have kittens named after them. Cheryl said she better have the cute one named after her. I told Dana that I think her kitten has an extra nipple :)

It's possible that two of them will be going home tomorrow. I hope to get a photo first of each staff member with their kitten. Hope my boss will let me.

Looks like the shelter is out of kittens for a while. (thank goodness!!) I didn't think this kitten season was ever going to end. Will be curious to see how long it is before they call me up to take more.

a home for two?

Mr P and Mr T, clients at work, recently lost their kitty. Mr. P who is really nice came in and was wondering where he might find some kittens. He was considering going to the shelter. I explained I had foster kittens who were coming in on Tuesday to be neutered. He was interested. He'll be stopping by that morning to look at them. They are thinking they want two.. :) I couldn't be happier.

Okay, well, I could if Reagor here would stop walking on my keyboard.. but he's hungry and I need to feed them.

attack of the kittens

The kitten room is on the other side of the wall I'm sitting near. I can hear them being obnoxious. If I wasn't working this weekend, I'd bring them in to be neutered this week, but I want to be there for their adoptions, so I'm going to do it next week... but this means I have to put up with another week of obnoxious kittens!! People always say to me - when they learn I foster - how can you give them back?? Well.. this is how. They are making a pigsty of the room, they are in EVERYTHING, and when I go in there, I have kittens biting on my ankles trying to "take me down". Not that I don't love them and it, but it is the last week or two that is always the most trying. Think a room full of toddlers on a sugar high on Christmas eve for two weeks.

for a good time call...

Well, Mom is in heat. Poor thing. Rolling around on the floor moaning and groaning. Doing the butt up in the air thing. One or two of the girls are trying to help her out by jumping on her back and biting her neck, but they are too small and of the wrong gender. The only intact male in the house was sitting behind my head playing in my hair. Yup. The only boy kitten named after a gay man was playing with my hair. It just made me giggle. He was totally oblivious to what is going on in there. My own males, all castrated at a young age, also have no clue, thank goodness!!! I so wish I could help her out, but the only way to do that is to get her a mate, and I'm not about to produce more kittens. If she keeps it up, I might ask the shelter to neuter her. They generally don't do adult cats until they are adopted (for financial reasons) but I'm sure they'll make an exception for me. Foster moms usually get every chance in the world to get adopted.

I've also got a situation brewing with Mona. She was very sleepy yesterday, almost to the point of being lethargic. I couldn't see anything wrong with her so I just let it go that she was sleeping hard - kittens do that from time to time. Today she had a green crust on her vulva. Either she has a urinary tract infection or an infection in her uterus. I'm going to bring her in tomorrow. Good thing in her favor is that she wanted and did eat. She's so cute when she's sleeping.

I trimmed kitten nails tonight. Surprisingly I'm covered in kitten scratches. Dana does NOT like her nails trimmed at all. Reagor liked it. Afterwards, Michelle and Dana were playing on the window and Dana fell into the water bowl. I'm telling you, these kittens like water :D

kitten games

The kittens have "invented" three new kitten games. The first is wrestling. Not new in the world of kittens but they have just really figured out the bonus of wrestling with each other and will go to town on it. The second is Kitten Boxing. I wiggle my hand in front of them, and they will stand up on their back two feet and bat at me with the front two. Cheryl likes to stop in the middle of boxing to lick me. The third is Kitten Pong. I bought some ping pong balls for them, and they are obsessed about batting those things back and forth. I can be in the middle of a big boxing match, and if someone flings the ball to the other side of the room, the kitten will fly in that general direction :D

On a side note, I got bit by a cat at work today. It was just a peanut of a cat, about 6 lbs. The owner said she had been close and cuddling with it the night before. She looked a little freaked so I was taking extra precautions, but while putting her in the cage I got nabbed. Just enough to break the skin and make me bleed. I have not been vaccinated against rabies (but I am against tetanus according to my doctor who didn't call me back for over 5 hours, then didn't mention anything but tetanus) but I'm not all that worried. The owner said she had been with her for a month previous to this (quarantine is for 10 days), but to be on the safe side we are quarantining her for 10 days. I feel bad. Not to mention my finger (where I got bit) hurts. *sigh* I think I really need a vacation.

major happenings

I took the kittens in to work the other day for an exam on "Mona"'s legs, and for them to get their shots. While weighing them, I introduced Mona to "Owen" a dog of one of the staff. Mona did NOT like Owen at all and proceeded to growl the rest of the afternoon. We did take an x-ray of her, which she did not like, and bit me as I was holding the top end, so I put on heavy gloves and tried again. The Dr. thinks it is hip dysplasia, and there isn't anything really they can do about it. They might try to get a better x-ray when we sedate her to spay her in a few weeks. They weigh about a pound and a half, which is a little on the small size for their nine weeks.

I have pictures of the trip, but I'm not really in the mood to edit them. Two reasons, one being Tweedle's health, the other is the moron clients I have to put up with. I'm in a major bah humbug mood... so I'll get to the photos soon. I promise.

Tweedle, however, well I don't know what I'm going to do. Wednesday morning I was checking my email, and she came up to me wheezing. I took her right in to work. They took an x-ray, and nothing abnormal showed up on it. Because of her history when being spayed, they are recommending an ultrasound. For the time being, she is on Prednisone and Clavamox. Not the most fun thing in the world trying to pill her... and worse I have to pill Eli too who is still on meds for his UTI. It is a free for all here in the morning!! We are trying to set up an ultrasound with the clinic in NH, but they aren't getting back to us. In the meantime, I was playing with Twee, and she quickly runs out of breath. :( Hopefully, it is nothing and clears up before we can even get an ultrasound appointment!!

It's amazing what the right food will do!!

I have been stuck feeding the kittens low-quality adult wet cat food cause that is all there was at the shelter. I have been angling for a year now trying to find a supplier of kitten food at cost. Well, I finally found one! I bought a couple of cans and put in an order for 17 cases. I have enough money for 35 cases, but I didn't want to overwhelm the shelter.

I swear in the few days they have been on kitten food they have almost doubled in size. Okay.. maybe not doubled, but they are HUGE!! The wonderful owners of Downeast Pet Supply have agreed to sell me the food at cost. And I didn't even have to ask!! I mentioned I wanted to buy for the shelter, and the owner just gave me the price at cost!!

Not only that but they are going to donate 10 cases as well!!!

Now if we could just keep the shelter in kitten food I'd be happy! I can't imagine constantly buying it for them. I raised about $500 through Ebay selling off some items I had around the house, and a few I found at a local clearance house.

cute picts

Mom, there are kittens behind this door!!

Let us OUT!!

I weighed them last night and they are 1 lb and about 3 ounces. I so need some good quality kitten food! will have to make that a priority tonight. Mom's belly is nice and full, but you can feel all her bones. 

six weeks

Wow.. six weeks already?!?! I was thinking more along the lines of somewhere between four and five. Everyone but Reagor knows how to eat. They don't all want to. Mona is the best eater.. Cheryl is the worst one who will eat. All the kittens like nutrical, and have figured how to suck that down. They are all about 1 pound now, which isn't that great of a weight, but it isn't horrible either. They look all fat and chubby, and are active and happy, so I'm not going to worry.

Eating on their own.... sorta

For the past few days, I have been giving the kittens tiny pieces of wet food in their mouths to get them ready for wet food...

Well, today two of them took it one step further and actually started to eat the food on their own. One did it out of the container, the other would only eat it out of my hand. They are so cute!!

Update on Eli & kitten surgery

ok.. well this boy is apparently destined to have nothing but trouble in his life. Poor thing. Last night he was straining to go, so I brought him in to work for a check up His bladder is spasming, so he is on yet another medication. The surgeon also is thinking he needs a "PU" which is surgery to remove his penis and widen the opening from his bladder to his penis. basically "making him a girl". *sigh* poor boy has been through so much in his short little life.

Dealing with Eli, I forgot to mention that one of the kittens needed surgery last week. the little boy had a hernia, and it abscessed. They fixed him up good and sent him home. Well, it abscessed again. I pulled a little corner off the scab, and puss oozed out. I talked to the dr, and he recommended pulling the entire scab off. That worked ok. I didn't like the way his belly looked, it was quite red and raw, but I figured that was just what it should look like. I tried to let it air dry before putting him down. Apparently I didn't though, cause he crawled through some litter on the floor and it stuck to it. I gently pulled it off, but it made him bleed pretty badly. Fortunately, I have liquid bandaid here, and I put a towel on his tummy till I could get the band-aid ready. I covered the incision with the liquid bandaid, and it looks MUCH better now. He doesn't like the antibiotics he is on, but other than that he seems fine. I finally took a sharpie and marked the ears of the girls so I could tell them apart at a glance. They are wicked cute.. they jump out of the cage, and run around for a second or two, then start climbing Mt Connie :)

I really miss Fifi. The new foster mom wants to call her Nicolette, even after I told her she could only take her if she called her Fifi.

gratuitous kitten picture

Kittens at 3 weeks

Eli's trip to the vet.

Well, since he peed in the bed, there wasn't much urine to get out of him this morning, so they waited till just about closing time. We stuck his bladder with a big ol needle and pulled it out. This, of course, made him have to go pee, and vomit. Poor thing. He vomited in his bag on the way home, so then he needed a bath. He screamed so loud you would have thought I was pulling his arms off. I feel so bad that he had to go through all that.

He has a raging urinary infection and actually has crystals in his urine. They recommend a special diet for that which will increase the acidity of his urine. The dr mentioned that his urine was acidic. I explained how it would be difficult to not put them all on it and he suggested we just do antibiotics for now (baytril 22.7 1 SID) and recheck him in a couple of weeks.

Again, I'm certain this has been going on for a month or more. I feel so bad, knowing he must have felt uncomfortable all this time. I just wish there was a way for him to say "Um.. excuse me, but it hurts when I urinate. Could you fix me?"

On a side note. I just got back from Target. They had some of the cutest pet things in their dollar spot. I got all the kitties Christmas stockings. I'll have to take a picture when I hang them out :)

Oh yeah, about the fosters.. :) I gave mom some more pyrantal for roundworms, and this time, it made her drool so badly that she looked rabid! but she ate all her wet food and drank her water. The kittens weren't as hungry today as they had been, so it looks like things are on the incline.

Happy 3 week birthday!

The kittens are 3 weeks old today. They are doing pretty well. Mom is looking a bit worse for the wear. She has had some pretty bad diarrhea, so I took a stool sample in. She has coccidia. We are treating her with albon, and doing some nemex to help get rid of any roundworms. Hopefully, she'll be filling out soon. She looked a bit dehydrated, so I mixed up some KMR to help her out nutritionally. I gave some to the kittens too. They loved it. I left them with a clean cage and fully bellies. One of the girls purred. It was uber cute!

The boy had a hernia and it began to develop what looked like scabbing. It didn't seem to be affecting him, so I let it go, but it got progressively worse over the weekend, so I brought him in on Tuesday. I had brought him in the week before because his cord hadn't fallen off, but the dr wasn't worried, but when he saw it Tuesday, he said it had to come off. So he had surgery. He is doing very well, except he hates the antibiotics they put him on. They make him foam at the mouth.

One of the girls has a bum leg. We aren't sure if it is deformed or if it is just dislocated. The dr isn't worried about it at this point, and suggests we look further into it at 8 weeks. She is the chubbiest one, so she is not suffering because of it. One of the other girls is a bit antisocial. She screams whenever I pick her up. The others used to, but quickly came around. I'll have to work harder on this one, but it is hard, as all the girls look a like. Maybe I'll get a sharpie and mark her head :)

Kittens at two weeks

Updates

Tweedle went back to the clinic for surgery. We used Iso on her, and she still turned quite blue. They did get her spayed, but they highly recommend that she never go under anesthesia again. She has been living at my house now for a while and is trying very very hard to become a member of the family. We are resisting, but she is a pretty unstoppable force! She takes no guff from the other kitties and fits in very well. We'll see.

I brought home a pregnant cat on the 8th. The shelter named her Dixie. She was extremely pregnant and not eating, so I assumed she would go at any time. After five days, I was pretty concerned and brought her to the clinic where I work for a physical. She showed no signs of distress, and her x-ray showed five or six kittens. Her temp was down, which is a sure sign of impending birth. I brought her home and spent the evening with her, but still nothing.


The next morning, there was one kitten and part of the placenta in the cage, so I brought her in to work for observation. Considering my past history with pregnant cats, I wasn't taking any chances.


She gave birth to one kitten an hour. She loved having her belly massaged. The first time I did it made the weirdest noises like there was air and water inside her. I would massage till the noise went away, and the next time I would check in there would be a kitten. By 11:30 we had four kittens, all looking exactly alike.


Then nothing. She pretty much stopped being in labor. I could feel what I thought were two kitten heads, but I wasn't sure. They just put in the new x-ray machine at work, so I volunteered her for an x-ray. There was one kitten left in her. At four PM there was still no progress and I was getting concerned. I massaged her belly more, and this time heard the squishy noises again. At 4:30, I went back in to check on her. I couldn't see things very well because she had her butt to the back of the carrier, but it looked like she was in the middle of delivering another kitten. One of the other kittens that was delivered breech, I found half way out of her, and I was concerned she stopped half way through this one too. I unscrewed the carrier and found this to be the case. She was cleaning the kitten off but didn't seem to be pushing anymore. I got a doctor, and the doctor pulled the kitten out, but things just didn't seem right. She was stiff and unmoving. We rubbed her, and she breathed, but I was still concerned. There is so little you can do for such little kittens, so I left her with Dixie to clean and stimulate. At 5, I took them home, and she still didn't look right. Her arms were out in front of her and stiff, so when you went to put her on her belly, she'd fall over. She had no suckling instinct and was cold. I stimulated her by rubbing her and moving her arms back and forth. I even made up some KMR, thinking the warm food would help "bring her around" Nothing really helped. At one point she did seem to want to suckle on my thumb, so I put another drop of KMR in her mouth, but she didn't seem interested. I had to go out, so I put her with her siblings and left, expecting to find her dead when I got back.


I was wrong. She is doing really well. Four kittens that look exactly like their mother, and one black one. Four girls, one boy. The boy weighs about an ounce more than his sisters. I was weighing them, and mom got a little concerned. By the time I was done with the last one, she came over, and picked her up, and brought her back into the cage. It was the cutest thing.



Now if I could just get Tweedle off my chest, I'd go give Emmy and Jack a bath. Emmy has tons of dandruff, and Jack's fur is so thick, that he still has flea dirt on him. But she looks so sweet, half asleep.. I can't bring myself to disturb her.

Bits and bites, and kitty footprints

Apparently everyone survived my going away without any lasting side effects. Muffin (at least I believe she is the culprit) went pee on my favorite chair. Emmy survived her trip and is doing much better with her cough. Ollie appears to have put on all the weight he lost right before the trip, although his fur has yet to grow back in, so he looks like he's walking around with a boot on.. :) it's cute.

Tweedle is still here. I brought her in on Friday to be spayed, and she had yet another reaction to the anesthesia. This time, it was Iso, which is very safe, but she still turned blue. I was going to bring her in for adoption on Saturday, but they had a lot of kittens there, and I just wanted to keep her a bit longer. Muffin isn't happy she's here, but what's new. She is such a sweetie. Will have to find just the right home for her.

I brought home a new cat from the shelter. Dixie. White with a smudge of grey on her head. She is quite pregnant but isn't giving up her kittens yet. Although she's not that interested in eating either, so it could be soon.

Im also thinking of officially changing Muffin's name to "Bad Kitty" seeing as that is what I keep calling her. Today she walked through an art project of mine, and now there are little grey kitty footprints all over the table (which she is NOT allowed on in the first place) and the chair. If it weren't so freaking cute, I'd be annoyed. I knew it was her even before doing the investigating and finding the paint on her foot. I so know my kitties :D