Surprise

I went to the pet store to get some more food for Emmy, and I went over to see who they had in the satellite adoption cage, and surprise surprise, it was Myla!! :) They brought the little story I made for her too.. She's been there since Thursday. She's such a nice kitty, I'm surprised she hasn't been adopted (she almost was that Saturday, but the people who wanted her walked out)

Eli got to go on another jaunt today. Hubby went out the back door and didn't shut it tight. I was in the bedroom and looked out the window (good thing the shades were open) and noticed a black and white kitty in the yard. This was an odd thing since there are no kitties in the neighborhood. I called out to the hubby to come look, and the kitty's ears perked up. Sure enough. So DH went down and got him to come in. It was fun to watch him bound across the grass. I so wish the world was safe enough so they could go out and chase bugs and mice and leaves, but sadly, it is not... so they must be content to chase leaves and fur pompoms and each other in the house - oh yes, they are so deprived :D

Adoption day

The adoptions went well. There were puppies there, so there was a TON of people, so it was all a little confusing and overwhelming. Another volunteer at the shelter had a friend who wanted a kitten and she showed her pictures of my group. She was first in line, and she took Mipsy. a very young woman took Rohane. A mother with two young boys - one autistic - took Monkey and Velm. She was only looking for one and asked me which one, and I said they complement each other very well... so she took them both. that was an easy sell. :)

The shelter started a new program where if you adopted a kitten you got the mother for free. I like this. None of my kitten adopters wanted Myla though. I had one woman who was interested in her, but in the mayhem, she left, and no one knows why. Later on in the day there was a woman who lost her 7 yr old cat to cancer. She was still very close to tears talking about it all. She was older.. 60's maybe and she wanted a kitten. I tried, but she seems to have hear heart set on one. All the ones we had were adopted at that point, so I sent her into the cat rooms to look at our older cats, since we have a lot of young cats. She found a few she liked, but she had her heart set on a kitten. I still think it is a bad idea, but I didn't tell her that :) toward the end of her visit, I pointed out Myla. She seemed interested, but since she knew we were going to have more kittens available tomorrow, she was going to go home and think about it.

My favorite little kitten came back to the shelter today. The one I'm pretty sure I mentioned that came in with three moms and a ton of kittens. Deformed feet and all. He is not doing well at all. Apparently five weeks old and he can't weigh more than five ounces.. One of the shelter managers is going to foster him, give him fluids on a regular basis and hand feed him... I almost stole him.. which of course would be beyond stupid, cause if he lived I'd have seven cats..

We also had someone bring in baby field mice. They were obnoxiously cute. probably the size of the first joint of your pinky.

The kitten shower itself went pretty well. We ended up with almost 8,000 pounds of supplies. One company donated 4000 lbs of pelleted wood stove pellets. they make great pet litter for cats and small animals. Even with out that one donation, we ended up with over 1000 lbs more stuff than last year!!

I'm still a little disappointed with the event. I really shouldn't be. But they keep building it up to be more than it ever is. I should just accept it for the fun afternoon that it is, and not expect more. I think next year I won't volunteer at it, but just stop by towards the end. (yup. and I'm going to take a break from fostering too.. really)

be careful of what you say to kitties

So last night I had another parade of kitties tell me that I was sleeping too long. at 12:30 AM. Um.. hello.. I had only been 'gone' for like three to four hours.. So tonight I made a decree. I said to my kitties.. "Anyone, INCLUDING you Emmy, who wakes me up in the middle of the night is going to be thrown against the wall" Ok, so I would never really do that... well I did it once, when the bed was right up against the wall and muffin startled me... and didn't I feel HORRIBLE afterwards..

Anyway.. I tried to sound all mean and menacing... I think it worked because I was just awoken by some very strange noise. I can't figure out what it was. I thought maybe it was Emmy grinding her teeth (that is a HORRID noise that she makes apparently when she has nausea.) So I woke up to find out what was going on.

Big mistake.

I awake to find a ring of kitties around me. Em is right next to me, head near the pillows. Jack and Ollie are on the footboard, and muffin and tweedle are on the kitty stairs at the foot of the bed. We made stairs for Em when we bought the new bed so she could get up there. She can still make it on her own, but it is very difficult for her.

Its a good thing I'm not paranoid about my kitties, or I would wonder.

Eli was hovering by the door... ready to take my threat seriously maybe? He seemed very happy that I was up, but very concerned at the same time.

I could almost hear the kitties saying "Oh.. Your up. Well, that's good. we so missed you. (but we didn't do it, we are good kitties!!!)" Em couldn't stop licking me and being very happy I was awake.

Did I mention its 3am?

One of these days I am going to have to get and stay grumpy at these cats. I mean come on.. I have to get my sleep. Its just so hard when they are so happy to see you.

The kittens. They are getting a little more than a little obnoxious. Mipsy found my toes and can't stop biting them. I hate to wear shoes when I go in the kitten room as they are always under foot and I want warning if I am about to step on them. They also totally enjoy chewing on my fingers. At least they are good about that, but it still stings.

Ok mom, you've been sleeping five hours now...

time to wake UP! *shoves basket with kitty meds on floor*

grrr.

I spent several hours last night making cat food. I do not enjoy doing this. Don't think the hubby enjoys giving it to them, and they don't seem overly enjoyed eating it either.. well sometimes they do. But hey.. food isn't supposed to be about enjoyment, is it? (shhh.. don't tell them otherwise!!)

I bought another cornish game hen to try on them. I can't believe I hacked that thing up into pieces. I almost cried seeing its neck and legs.. And my great and mighty hunters will have nothing to do with it. So kitten fodder it becomes. These fosters LOVE raw food.

They are doing well. The little scardey cat (I can't believe they don't have names yet. Just big boy, monkey boy, little miss Myla and the scared one) is making some progress. The neat thing about him is if you lay him on his back he seems to go into a trance. Very cool.

The cat door seems to be helping Em. She's not all intent on eating at meal times, but by the time the next meal comes around, the food we gave her is all gone. her BG levels aren't great, but she is putting on weight and seems interested in things - well as much as to be expected with her. I still find her sleeping in the oddest spots. The hardwood floor has become a new one for her. I can't imagine that feels very good on her bones.. but I'm not about to tell her she can't do that. I know she can make it up on the bed. If she can't there are pillows strewn around for the kitties, and there are always clothes and bed pillows around (ok ok, I admit it, we are not the best housekeepers on the face of the planet)

I am a little concerned about the rabbit. I actually picked her up the other day (she hates to be held or petted) and noticed she's pulling fur off her belly. She's probably bored in her cage all day, but considering the destruction she has causing lately.. Photos, now photo albums.. folders, papers, everything but the items I put in there for her to chew on! I'm considering getting her a dog / baby playpen to ensure she stays away from the content lining the walls.

Six Weeks

Myla The Mom

Short Toe - Still need to name him.. How about Betrokken


Little Miss Myla - she's so like her mom


Big Boy (has been from day one)


Monkey Boy.. those are not double paws, just double jointed :)

Update on the residents: Bri went through surgery just fine. Left her in her cage for a day, which she did NOT like. Didn't eat well, thus didn't poop well.. but as soon as I let her play with Tweedle again, she was back to her ol self. However, she is no longer on the "good bunny" list. I found a stack of photographs she had been chewing through. I was going to scrapbook them, hubby joked she was making decorative edges for me.

Em - now this is a good one. I have isolated her for 24 hours now with a litter box and dry and wet food. No vomit. BGs were good this morning. Not great, but pretty good for having access to dry. She went IN the litter box (she'll only do this if it is a private box) Weighed her again and she has gained 4 oz. So.. she needs all day access to food. We are going to have to rig up some sort of special door for her so that the others don't clean out the bowl. Will have to look into this ASAP as she hates being isolated.. even if it is the bedroom.

five weeks

Where does the time go? I went down to feed the kittens this morning and realized I was out of water. I left to get some and the little girl followed me out of the room. So I brought her upstairs with me. Jack is still no longer a fan of kittens, but everyone else was nice enough to her. I want to call her princess, but that is so cliche.. so I'm thinking of finding that word in different languages and see if any of them fit. (okay, so that didn't work, it was basically princess in each language)

mmmm litter, yummy!!

I moved the cage down from the top of the TV the other day, knowing the kittens were getting big enough to get out on their own, well I resisted giving them a litter box cause I knew the minute I did it was going to be a mess!! Well, this afternoon I went down to feed them and found pee on their bedding. Taking it out of the cage, I found some poop as well, so it is time.

I put the litter box down on the first level (I had made a second level in the cage for the box, and so mom could escape the kittens) and put in new blankets. The kittens were enjoying the litter. The little black boy (short toes) immediately went pee. Everyone else had to taste it. The little girl had a mouth full and was still chewing when I put a stop to it. Annoying part is she isn't eating FOOD yet, but was very interested in chewing litter!!

They are starting to venture further and further from the cage each time I open the door. Most times they stay right by the door and the side of the cage or near mom, well today several of them made it to the other side of me. :) They grow up so fast. they are at that cute stage where they have just figured out how to walk, and they want to run and pounce, but barely have walking under their belts so it never works out the way they want it to.

So far only Monkey boy is eating. I don't think it is too far along for the rest of them, though.

four weeks..

Hi, can we come out?


Um.. there is something on my foot!!


mm.. yummy.. kitten pee. I love it!


Em is feeling so well she actually decided to go out into our catio.

we now have teeth

Ok, so they are the tiniest specks of teeth, but they are there. I had to check this morning when Monkey Boy went for the food again this morning. Last night he was in Myla's food full faced chompin away.. ok slurping away.. Man, these guys are growing up fast!!

They still have little to no use for me at this point. They still look at me like "what are you going to do to me NOW". All too soon they'll be running up my pant legs and getting into way too much trouble :)

learing to walk and play

The Four of them. Can you see the long toe on the first one?

A better shot of his long opposable thumb

Learning to walk

Giving up on walking and playing

awwwwwwww

Um. mom... what is that???

I bought a cornish game hen to see if the cats would eat the thing whole. There is a whole other school of thought when feeding raw and that is to feed the entire prey to the animal. Let them chew the bones and rip the flesh off the meat and what not. Since they were doing better with their chunked portion of ground, I thought what the heck. Thought the predator in them might enjoy it.

Well they seem to have no concept that it is food. They sniffed, seemed interested.. I think Tweedle ran into the living room with one of the gizzards.. but so far the pieces I put down are pretty much unmolested. Jack chewed on one of the wings for a bit..

Maybe they just don't want their "ma" to see what wild vicious animals they can be, and will eat it when I'm not around.. (ha ha, I'm so funny)

Em is still confusing me with her BG levels. I had her down to 168 the other day (pre-shot - which is fantastic for her) and I only gave her half a dose, and I seemed to over dose her, which shot her levels way back up. I can't get them back down either. I'm going to do a curve today and see what 2 units does to her when she's this high up. I did one unit on Thursday and the spot checks said she was pretty flat - indicating that 1u was not enough. arrgh

The kittens are starting to interact with each other. The little girl spends a lot of time contemplating her thumb. It's cute. Often looks like she is trying to suck on it. The walking is coming a bit more. still not good at it, but they are giving it a shot. They are only 3 weeks old and are already almost a pound.. will be before next week is out. according to the schedules, they are about a week ahead of schedule.. which fits in with their opening their eyes 5 days early :)

update on the babies

The babies are doing well. Growing like weeds. Weighing from 8.3 (the girl) to 9.4 (big boy) All of their eyes were open before a week of age. The girl lost her cord a few days after she opened her eyes. They still don't like to be away from each other, and spend most of their time sleeping still... but then they aren't even two weeks yet, so this is to be expected.

I have temporarily given up on getting Em to eat raw food. She refused to eat it, and I didn't want to force feed her every day. So I need to go out and find a high quality, low carb, no garlic cat food. Not as easy as it sounds, surprisingly. There are one or two options in each brand of food that are low carb, now I need to see if they have garlic in them or not. Garlic - like onions - can cause anemia. Not to say that it will, but I'm just not willing to risk it, and it annoys the ship out of me that cat food companies who say they want only the best for your cats keep putting it in. Even supplements designed to help your cats have it too.

We now have three eyes

Big boy has both of his open, and little ol man has one. The girl still has her cord attached.

Just call me winky!

Without his mom there, all the shots of this little boy were so fuzzy that they are almost not worth keeping.. She showed up for two photos and decided to go play with Bri again

Bri on the other hand, was getting 'serious' She was chasing Myla around, even tried to mount her. Myla started hissing and I had to break them up. Bri then went and sat on the fake satin pillow that is now in there. Ever the princess.. *rolls eyes*

ok, I swear they are trying to confuse me

Last night I was pretty certain that big boy was starting to open one of his eyes. A full five days early. This morning the other was completely open. I can't stop them, but I can't help but wonder if I should be doing something to make sure they don't dry out. *shrug*

Things are going well with the kittens. Still gaining weight. Mom is eating like a horse.

heartache hurts

The one bad thing about losing a kitten (other than the obvious) is it ruins the joy of the others. I'm scared to death to go down there now afraid I'll find another one dead. I keep making my husband do it... at the oddest times too. Maybe in a few days, the kittens will be bigger and stronger and I won't be so worried.

The babies are all still gaining, which is nice. Two have lost their cords now. The Zithromax stopped the URI in its tracks. Mom is actually being neat and tidy, and while I wouldn't say attentive, I haven't gotten any of them to poop yet, so she must be doing SOMETHING for them.

My own kids are okay. Em is losing weight again. I don't like having to supplement her raw diet with canned, but it seems the only way to get her to eat enough. The rest of the gang likes it well enough, but not immediately. They have a few bites, go off about their day, then finish it up. Wouldn't normally have a problem with that but this stuff doesn't smell the best. I missed giving Ollie antibiotics yesterday for his teeth. He had gotten seven days worth so I peeked at them first, and they were still inflamed, so he got one this morning, and we'll continue on the two-week treatment. Hopefully that will put a stop to this.

Bri likes to be out and about, so I am thinking of moving her again. I don't want her on the floor in the office because the only place the cage fits is in front of the cable wires. Must have cable or I have no internet. :) I have some extra rugs downstairs, so I'm going to work on getting the boxes unpacked in my craft room and get her in there with a spare rug so she doesn't have to worry about doing her cute bunny flips on the slippery wood floor. She's very good about her litter box, so she might have very long running free times. Only cords in there are electrical, and they don't need to be plugged in all the time. Yes, there is the wood objects she might chew on, so we'll see.

Myla is clueless

I just went to check on them. The little calico one was out of the nest screaming. Myla was a bit bothered but did absolutely nothing. Even when I took the other kittens away, even when I pulled her out of the nest and put her NEXT to the kitten.

I'll be surprised if these kittens make it to adulthood

must remember why I do this

Sometimes it is VERY hard to continue. Today is one of those days. I very much want to pack all the fosters up and bring them back.

why?

Well I went down this morning around 10 am to find the little orange kitten laying on its back not moving. I packed everyone up, threw clothes on, ran to the clinic. He was dead. Myla smothered him.

Not doing too bad to only tear up now.. The vet (who doesn't know me) treated me like I had no clue on kittens.. even after I told her. *sigh* I don't like her.

Everyone else is still gaining weight. The little calico really looked sick this morning. She sneezed a few times yesterday, but today it was bad. She's the only one showing symptoms, but they are all on zithromax, which they all made the most horrid faces at. Myla went to eat while I medicated, and they screamed. She came back a few moments later and sat on the black and white one... totally sat on him.. I love her she's so sweet, but I could smack her into next week right now... well maybe not smack, but I wouldn't mind putting her into next week.. (does that make any sense?)

Myla also got a good exam, and there is no other kittens. Must have been her uterus that I was feeling prior... now that it has shrunken back there is nothing to feel.

and the mom of the year award goes to....

Someone other than Myla!! that is for certain. Her idea of taking care of her kids is to sit on them, and that is enough thank you. She ran out of the nest this morning to eat, and I fed her. I was weighing the kittens (gaining nicely thank you) and they were screeching and she couldn't care less. I whistled and she reacted, so she's not deaf. I put the little orange one outside of the nest, and she ran over and sniffed him, then sat on the other kittens, leaving him all alone.

I moved the nursing kittens to the other side of her, and the screaming seemed to bother her a bit more, so she leaned over to him and sniffed him. This gave him a direction to swim to, and he found his way back. *rolls eyes* That was cheating!!

It was cute, cause I put him right outside of the nest, and he basically swam in circles until she sniffed him, then it was a straight shot for him.

the little girl is sneezing. I don't like that one bit. But at least she put on some weight, so again, I'm not going to worry about that for now.

Bri and the kittens

I have been taking Bri downstairs to the kitten room cause that floor is padded whereas the rest of my floors are hardwood, and she doesn't like them very much. Myla the foster mom was okay with her when she was pregnant. The first intro was a little iffy, but it quickly went much better and I wasn't worried with the two loose in the room as long as I was there to supervise.

Well, with the intro of the kittens I wasn't sure what she'd think. She's not an overly concerned mother. I've had moms who would take the babies right out of my hand before. Myla couldn't care less when I examine or clean them.

So the first time Myla saw Bri, she sniffed at her, then went back to her kittens. She went to eat afterwards, and the bunny jumped right into the nest with the kittens. I shooed her away. Later when Myla was back in the nest, Bri went back in, and for a few minutes, they were all snuggling together.

and wouldn't you know it, I had JUST run out of room on my digital cam!!