Gray and Mustard Yellow

oh.. my.. kitten..

remember messy messy boys?? yeah, well.. that was nothing.

This morning I walked in to the proverbial baby in a crib who removed the diaper and went to town.. there was poop EVERYWHERE!!  Poor little Gray's belly was no longer white but was completely mustard yellow. 

and wouldn't you know I was running late for an early morning appointment *sigh*  I changed out the bedding, got the worst of it off them gave them some food and left for about an hour.. when I got back there was this..

it looks like he got some of it cleaned up, because there was almost no white when I left, he was just neon yellow and gray.

So they got a bath.  Gray kept wanting to put his nose in the water  *rolls eyes* but eventually I got him all cleaned up (well mostly) and as dry as I could get him and put him back in the carrier with the heating pad on full tilt.  Simon got one next.. he seemed to want to go swimming.. lol.. anything to be difficult that one.  Once he was clean and towel dried I put him next to his brother, he climbed out of the side of the carrier, walked around to the front of the carrier and walked in on his own.

seriously.

I've decided to give them a litter box.  hopefully they'll end up doing more then eating the litter..
I've also decided that their afternoon feeding will consist of some kitten food.    They might or might not eat it.  By Simon's attitude and teeth, I think they are a little older then the 3-4 weeks I originally thought and might be ready for it.  especially considering how hungry Simon gets.  It will be nice if both of these experiment goes off well, because then I can stop trucking them to work each day.

can you see Simon's heart on his back?

On a personal note, I was run off the road this morning by a great big construction vehicle taking a corner too sharply.  I'm fine but I ended up hitting a rail road track with out the protection of pavement and ended up popping a tire.  So much fun to be rescued with all of my work/kitten paraphernalia. 

Messy mess boys

I'm reusing this photo to remind you of the fact that this carrier is pretty much their whole world right now.  I let them out for "walking practice" when I feed them but for the most part they are sleeping or just hanging out in their carrier.  They are rarely vocal.  When they see me coming they cry out for food, but they have yet to cry out before seeing me.

But when they are out, they are out, and they do NOT want to sit still for ANYTHING! and most certainly not to go pee.  Darn it I can walk why would I want to pee??

*rolls eyes*

which of course means their bladders get full and as a result "overflow happens".  (seriously, I try.  but they don't wanna, and they don't scruff)

Yesterday the constipation ended (the result of low input.. no input no output) and I got things "started" with Simon.. well he was so done with it all after two seconds and squirmed out of position and started walking away.. yes, with a ... what.. flag on his tailpipe??  (and yes, I think this post is funnier with the euphemisms)

Well I grabbed him and "helped" him (I didn't need any help lady!! I'm walking here!) and things seemed OK.  His brother doesn't mind going pee, but he has been so dehydrated he hasn't had to go much at all.  I "peed" him and put him down to walk around and a moment or two later I realized that he was no longer constipated either and we had yet another flag/tailpipe going on.  I forgot how annoying this part of bottle babies can be.

I was glad that it was firm and cleaned right up (Robyn is right, firm poop is something to celebrate) and put them to bed.

This morning their bedding was SOAKED with urine.. Fine, whatever... change out the bedding, feed them, pee them, head to work.  Their mid morning feeding went with out incident.. their afternoon feeding... well let me remind you of the title of this blog post..   *sigh*

along with "overflow" we had a pile and a mess.  and now we all need baths..

boys..

I do have some awesome photos of them, but none of them together.  I'll get them edited and get them up as soon as I can..

Happiness is...

There is a smidge of bad news.. See that beauty mark on the gray kitten's face?  well it isn't a beauty mark.. it was a tick.  Sad thing is I didn't realize all weekend.  I thought it was just debris from the URI.  Since he was doing better I felt he could handle a good solid cleaning (I had been wiping his face with a warm cloth up to now) and the second I touched it I knew.  My husband wasn't as convinced until he got the magnifying glass out.

Once he knew it was a tick it hit home with me that where there is one... so I grabbed up the orange and white kitten (currently called Simon) and found one on his face too.  arrrgh!  He likes to make it hard since he hates to sit still.  I gave him a good going over, and he only seemed to have one.  I went back to gray kitten and found FOUR MORE!!  arrrgh!  and one of them moved after being pulled off.  *sigh*  sadder thing is that because he doesn't have short hair he very well could have a few more hiding in his gray fur..

Gray is still very far behind Simon in food consumption, but he's also far behind in weight, so it only makes sense he wouldn't eat as much.  He fills up his own belly now eating on his own so I haven't had to tube feed him and I'm so glad to be done with that.. and so is he.

Kitteny goodness

fur and bones with a little meow thrown in

Go ahead, call me paranoid.  I'm used to it at this point.

Poor little gray and white.. This morning I was so worried about him.  his brother ate almost 30ccs of formula until his belly was twice the size of his head (it is a riot to look at) and then went off for walking practice.  His brother didn't even wake up.  Just laid on his side somewhere between breathing and gasping.

he ate on his own which was encouraging, but ate barely 3ccs before he became tired.  Holding him after holding his brother is hearbreaking because he feels about a week behind in development and there is little more then fur and bones at this point... except a little meow he throws around when I'm trying to clean out his eyes or stick ointment in them.  His little hip bones are barely wider then my thumbnail.. his fur coat is two sizes too large for him.. he's dehydrated, and he was just sitting there.

So I emailed the shelter to update.  They don't have anything else to offer me for support.  I'm very glad I have the ability to tube feed him because with out it I'm sure I'd be going bald trying to get him to eat.

I just left them for their dinner and he ate almost 12ccs on his own.  It took several breaks but it was so heart warming.  He is also starting on walking practice!!  granted it is slow and cumbersome, but it was nice to see him explore.

So.. woods meet light at end of tunnel.. Decks - I WILL unstack you!