put the ark away for another day

Em is stable at 9.5 pounds.. Miss Molly and Miss Martha are back to feeding their kits very well. I still supplement them once a day, but I think that is more for me, than because they need it. I was concerned about the 'what ever dude' kitten, since he was skin and bones... but I gave him 3ccs one night, he took 6 the next. he feels like he's got more meat on him now.. still incredibly laid back.. but things look good.

The buff boys who were sneezing and having problems keeping their eyes unglued are doing much better. The bigger one is in fact the biggest of all the kittens.. eyes are staying open, active, and can scream with the best of them :)

I still can't seem to get the mothers to eat very much, but I'm sure they'll pull through just fine.

Em spent a lot of the weekend outside with us as we did yard work. I swear she does better when she gets outside. but that could just be me projecting. This morning there was blood in her nasal drainage.. Could just be from the fact that her nasal passage is quite irritated from everything going on. Hopefully it was just that little bit, and I won't get home to blood all over the house.

cute Em story

I took Em out last night when I got home from work. It was such a nice night, that I decided to go into the garage and get my pruning shears, and work in the garden a little. I told Em to stay put that I would be right back. Well she thought I was taking too long and yelled at me. When I got back out we both went into my little garden and started puttering around. Well she wandered a bit, and I lost sight of her. I called out to her, and found her at the very front edge of our yard. It dips down into a culvert, so that is why I lost sight of her. As I started walking towards her, she actually started stalking a bird. She did her little run to try to catch it.. (which isn't quite a run but is a lot quicker than you'd think of the ol girl) it was so cute and heart warming for me.

Ok, Where is the Ark??

When it rains it pours!!

Em is down to 9lbs 8 oz!! WTH?! I thought she felt heavier so I weighed her. I just looked at the ounces and saw 10 ounces and got excited for a minute thinking she was 10lbs 10 oz.. hence gaining weight, but it was 9lbs 10 oz. I weighed her again this morning (after she didn't eat her mid meal snack) and it was 9lbs 8 oz. Makes me want to cry. She has been doing ok for the most part. she has a lot of drainage out of her nose despite the antibiotics.. little annoying to keep picking it off the bed, but as long as she's with me, I can't complain. She did have another episode the other day. Remember when i stepped on her tail and she seemed out of it afterwards.. it was like that. I suppose I should get her back to the vet.. but I don't think they can do anything for her, so what would be the point?

Then the foster kittens are having issues. The moms (I've named them Miss Molly - for the younger one w/ white and Miss Martha for the tortie) are having issues. They aren't eating all that well. Miss Molly is barely eating. Last night her kits were hungry but not STARVING, so I thought we were still on the far side of ok.. Miss Molly was definately dehydrated and skinny, but bright and allert. I gave her some more KMR, and went to bed. This morning she was still on this side of OK but I was concerned. The little boy tiger kitten (winky) was very slow to respond, and also dehydrated. So I took her and the kits in to the shelter for some fluid. It almost ran into mom.. a steady stream. Hopefully this will perk her up enough to eat and start producing milk again. winky seemed to feel better. the solid black one is extremely laid back. He's the "what ever dude" type of kitten. Which scares me, because when they don't care it is usually a sign of health issues. However he's been this way since I got him home... so it might just be his personality. I gave Miss Molly's kits some KMR (Miss Martha's kits seem to be doing fine except for the goopy eyes) and they all had about 6 ounces except the little black one who had about half that despite all of my tricks..

Sad thing is, that there is about a week of difference in their ages, but both groups seem to be about the same size now..

covered in KMR and snot

What is it about one that gets me covered in both?? :)

Em is still snotty. Lots of white to greenish white drainage. She's back on antibiotics.. don't think it is helping, but then again I have only given it a short time. Other than that she's pretty stable. BGs almost always hit 300 by testing time. still wants to go outside on a regular basis. Still likes to lick me in the middle of the night. Yup.. she's hanging in there.

The fosters are sneezing.. just the mom's younger kittens. Did I mention that I think the two moms are mother and daughter. Mom (tortie medium hair) has much worse teeth and isn't nearly as obsessed with her kittens as the daughter (torbie - tortie w/white - long hair) Mom has the younger kits, daughter had the older. Daughter is in with her kittens 90-95% of the time.

Neither one of them is eating well. Its frustrating. They are both oboxiously thin. The only saving grace is that they are so fluffy that I can barely see it. not that it is much of a saving grace. their input is like half of their output.. I have no idea how they are doing it. I keep offering them different types of food and nothing really tempts them.

one of the buff colored boys (younger set) is sneezing up a storm and is constantly snotty. I thought we were out of the woods the other day as he was much much less snotty, but this morning he was all covered again. its funny cause when he gets covered, he nurses, and grabs some of his mom's fur in the process which is black, so he ends up looking like he put on a fake beard and mustache..

so because I was worried for the moms, I brought some KMR down, and supplemented the kits. almost all of them totally appreciated it. One in each group (snot boy and the girl in the older set) was like "what the heck are you sticking in my mouth!?!?" One of the older boys LOVED it.. sucked it right out of the syringe :D too cute. I gave some of the KMR to the younger mom, she wasn't thrilled that I did that, but she so needed it. she's nothing but skin and bones, and if her kits are attached to her all day and that hungry you know she's not producing much. Hopefully it will be like priming the pump and she'll start eating well on her own.

names.. I so need to get them names..

Em and the kittens

Still really need to come up with names for everyone.. this is always the hard part for me.