The Baby Ate from a Saucer!

Okay, so not really a saucer, more of a baby-food jar-lid. I sat down with her for her lunchtime (she was in my lap earlier, but made it clear that she was hungry by trying to gnaw on my nose), and hadn't quite gotten the syringe filled up yet, and she started trying to eat the baby-food jar. This was very cute (nomnomnom), her mouth open as wide as a tiny kitten's mouth can open, attempting to eat the jar, but not particularly effective. So I put the lid down with some food in it, and after a false start or two (trying to eat the lid), she ate the food. Not a whole lot (she seems to prefer lots of little meals) but still! Hurrah!

So we'll try the more actually cat food foods that way, too.

And I think I read that as soon as the baby starts eating from a dish you can start trying to litter train them. Considering she can now get out of the box, so I gave her the run of the bathroom now, I think beginning to litter train is probably a good idea.

As you can see from the picture at the right, baby kitten is feeling well enough to play and attack things an gnaw. It makes it harder to take clear pictures, but makes me so very happy. She's doing so much better than on Monday. Oh! and look at her eyes! They seem to be clearing up too! She's sneezing a little, but the vet seemed unconcerned (given that we know she has a URI and that she's already on antibiotics.)

Yaaaay baby kitten! Fight, fight, fight to get well! Maybe stop fighting quite so much with my nose, though (ow.)

Now that she's had her lunch, time for mine.

Baby food for the win!

This morning the baby wanted food-- she was snuffling about and trying to squeak (she didn't manage it, though), and chewing on my fingers, and yet she refused to take her bottle. She seemed dehydrated, too, so off we went to a vet.

This was not the same as the ER-vet, nor is it the same as the vet I'd been taking my cats to. (I'd been thinking about changing their vet anyway.) The place was super-uber-busy but baby and I still got in to see a doctor very quickly, and weren't left waiting for but a moment. (And if we'd been waiting longer, we could have evidently watched Puppy Bowl IV on DVD-- naturally we would have chosen the kitten halftime show.)

The doctor agreed that she was a little dehydrated, but was very impressed with how active the kitten was, especially after hearing about Monday night and reading the notes from the ER Vet (whom he knows, apparently.)

Then he brought out the chicken and gravy baby food. The kitten loves it far more than anything else we've tried to give her! She even meowed for more-- her first real meow! He also gave me more advice on how much to feed the baby (something I've been worrying over a lot.) And is going to call tomorrow to see how we're doing. I like this place.

The vet commented that it is unlikely that the kitten carries leukemia because if she did she'd not likely have recovered so fast. So that's hopeful. (We'll be testing in about 6 weeks.)

I got the baby home, and gave her her meds (amoxicilin and albon for the coccidia) and then she took a bunch of baby food. She ended up wearing a lot of it, naturally. And now she's down for her nap. It really is almost like having a much tinier, quieter, furrier baby. Hee.

Now it's time to wash the amazing amount of towels and blankets she's gone through in the last 24 hours. :)

Almost time for the 1am feeding.

So, here have some pictures...

A few new ones (Daisy, Bessie, Creamsicle, Bozo, LGG, Pigpen) in the Project-Cat Set 2.

And a new set, in honor of the colony's youngest member (who will not, of course, really be part of the colony, but still, y'know what I mean): Baby Kitten pictures.

This is your evening Kitten update...

Frankly, I'm still worried about the baby girl. She still doesn't want to eat very much, and towards evening her skin started being dehydrated seeming. I called the Emergency Vet that we were at last night, and they didn't seem too concerned once they knew that she's much more active than last night. Still, they suggested seeing the regular vet in the morning in case she needs more subcutaneous fluids, so that's what we'll be doing.

Now 'tis time for her nightly dose of amoxicillin. The brand name is "amoxi-drop" but what's so very fantastic about it is that it's the very same smell and shade of bright pink as the amoxicillin I used to get constantly as a child for my chronic ear infections! Hee! Well, it amused me. :)

She has turned into a little purring furball. She's quiet when I first pick her up (after all, I might be waving a bottle in her face again), but if I put her on my shoulder she immediately starts purring.

In other cat news, I saw a lot of Little Grey today. It's probably just my overactive sense of guilt that made me imagine that LG was looking at me accusingly, as if to say, you stole my baby. Right? Heh. Anthropomorphize? Me? Never! Also saw Creamsicle (formerly known as Pastel), when I was talking with the Downstairs Neighbor Lady. She informed me that Creamsicle is upset because he is no longer intact and cannot chase the other girls. She thinks he's the head of the colony (but I think that Bozo is.) She told him to stop being angry at her because it was my fault. She was joking. Mostly. I informed Creamsicle that it was for his own good and that it was healthier for both him and the lady-cats. He seemed unconvinced, but went off to much on food.

Such is a life full of cats. :)

Kitten's Feeding

I got her to eat a few syringes full of KMR mixed with Hill's Prescription Diet a/d, and she took it pretty well. Earlier I got her to defecate (which, as gross as it sounds, is an important thing given that kittens can't do it on their own. Yes, ew.)

But best of all, when she was done eating, after I'd cleaned her up a bit, she climbed up on my shoulder, nuzzled into my neck and started purring! :) I know that purring can mean that a cat's in pain or scared (as well as the usual meaning of 'happy') but I'm pretty sure she was actually content.

She explored my lap a bit, as well as my hair, and is now back in her box for a nap.

Overall, her first post-ER-vet feeding was a success, I'd say. :)

The Kitten is Home.

We're home. In fact, baby's in my lap as I type this. I have to figure out now how to keep her separate from my cats, at least 'til we can get to the vet this week for her regular kitten checkup and tests (to be sure that my cats will be safe). When the Volunteers came over last night they took one look at her box and said, "She'll climb right out of that." I believed them, but in the state the kitten was in last night she certainly wasn't interested. Today she's already given it a try.

I have all sorts of high quality, high calorie, high vitamin food for the baby. She's much more active (see above) although not just at the moment-- she's lying quietly on my lap. Now begins my stint at feeding her every 4 hours (eek), for a week, according to the instructions I got from the vet. And giving her medicine 3 times a day (2x for one med, 1x for the other.) Oh, this'll be fun. (Yes, yes, sarcasm ill becomes me.) But she's obviously a sweetie, and I'll do everything I can to keep her safe and find her a forever-family.

So, we need a name for her. On all the paperwork thus far she's just "Kitten." What'cha think?

Kitten News!

I'm off to go pick up the wee baby! Hurrah!

Kitten Update

The Volunteer Couple arrived and showed me how to feed the baby kitty. They judge her to be about 3 weeks old. Unfortunately, the baby didn't much want to eat, despite being nothing but skin and bones. Also, once I figured out what Tamnonlinear actually meant about checking for dehydration, I could tell that the baby girl was very dehydrated. Also, she just wasn't being very feisty for a kitten of her age (even allowing for her recent troubles.)

So, about quarter after eleven, I gathered up my stuff, and the emergency vet information that The Volunteer had provided, and off I drove. I was shaking so badly (out of, I imagine, fear and adrenaline) that I had a hard time filling out all the necessary paperwork. Then they took the kitten away from me and I had to sit in the waiting area. I was a twitchy being. When I was taken back to the kitten they told me that they had gotten some high-calorie food into her (just a very little, and frankly there seemed to be a lot in the box and on the kitten). [This is also when I was informed that the kitten is a girl.] But when the kitten then didn't seem to be able to hold up her head, the vet tech took her away again to find the vet.

The vet was busy with critical cases, but while the vet tech had the kitten, the kitten had diarrhea on her. Which sucks for the vet tech. But it meant that it could be looked at under the microscope. The vet tech returned to the kitten to me and said the vet would be in when she could.

I wrapped the kitten in one of the baby blankets and curled up with her on the bench in the exam room. I was dozing off when the vet finally came in.

The kitten has coccidia, which is common but dangerous for kittens. She's dehydrated, too, of course, and probably has an upper respiratory infection. None of this is particularly surprising, I guess. The course of treatment that the vet suggested was keeping her overnight for observation (and to be kept in an incubator. The kitten's temperature was fine according to the vet tech, but still), be given subcutaneous fluids, and antibiotics and such.

I said yes. I'm not exactly flush with my own cash, but I figure this falls under the realm of the Feral Colony, even though this kitten, if she survives, won't be feral. (And the donation button, to the left, is still there.) So another receptionist type came in to explain the costs. While waiting for her I took the above picture with my phone (not a great picture, but whatever. She was asleep in my arms). Then after signing off on that, I waited for another vet tech to come and get the baby. By then it was 1am.

They'll call me if anything happens. Otherwise, I'll call in the morning (which is to say in about 6hours) and find out when I can bring her back here. Once her health seems stable and she's well on her way to recovery, I'll start looking for a forever-home for her. [Anyone want a kitten? She'll be healthy and spayed.]

Uh, this was unexpected...

9:30 at night, a knock on the door. I very rarely get people at my door, even less so at night (when they clearly aren't delivery people!)

But I answer. And it's a guy holding a tiny squirming kitten. Apparently one of the ferals had kittens on the porch of an empty apartment. Then the mother moved the kittens inside the apartment when guys were working on it. This one was behind a refrigerator and almost got squashed when they were moving it. Instead, a worker got his hand squashed. (Which sucks for him, but good man for saving the kitten!) This is the only one they found-- mama cat probably moved the rest when workers started showing up. But the guy at my doorstep had him for a few days, apparently, before anyone could recall which apartment I (the "cat lady") was in. And they tried to feed him (I don't know what... I really hope not cow's milk) but he wouldn't take much and so now he is in my hands. I know that he needs KMR immediately, but of course it's well past pet stores' closing time, curses!

Freaked out, I called Tamnonlinear (she of the brownies), who calmed me down and gave me some options. Then I called the Volunteer (who answered as Pigpen, heh), who is now coming over with some kitten supplies.

Tomorrow we go to the vet.

This is why I am incredibly thankful that we raised more money than was immedately necessary.

Kitten is tiny, and I don't know if we'll make it. He was crawling around on me, but is now sleeping in a box I made for him. One eye is fully open, the other only half, I think because he's so young, but maybe because of an infection. You can feel every bone in his body through his fur. He's a grey tabby, and adorable (of course). He can sit up, and isn't too wobbly when he does so. I have no idea how old he is, but estimates are currently between 1 week and 3 weeks. Likely the Volunteer will have a better idea after seeing him, and the vet will have an idea tomorrow, certainly.

Mostly I'm concerned about keeping him alive to get to the vet. Eek. (Also, don't really know if it's a 'him' but statistics of my colony, and my rude peek under his tail say him.)

More updates as they warrant. Also? Three HUGE cheers for Tamnonlinear and for The Volunteer who is the BESTEST EVER and is coming over here even though it's already late.

Also, BOO to websites because it took me forever to find something on the web to direct me to an emergency vet (should the need arise.)

Aaaaand, we're back! Mrow!

I wish I could say that I was only gone because I was having some kind of fabulous adventure, or at least have fantastic stories about the cats when I came back. But alas, no. I was looking (and not finding) for a job, and keeping myself busy with a myriad of other projects, and so, the Project-Cat neglect.

But, the cats seem well. I've seen each of them since the Great Cat Nabbing of '08, even if I haven't gotten photos of all of them.

When we were cat trapping, the Volunteer asked me if I ever saw the cats climb the trees, and I said, truthfully, no. Tonight, though, while I was out in my balcony, I heard a sound, like the scrabbling of a very, very large squirrel. It took some maneuvering and patience for me to discover that Bozo is a veteran tree-climber, both up and down! He got way up into a pine tree-- I couldn't see him at first in the boughs. I only actually spotted him on the way back down. That is a large cat for being in trees! I think he was showing off because he somehow knew that I was on the phone with my mom, who happens to be his sponsor.

Oddly enough, the cat I see most often is Pigpen. Yes, seriously. So this gives me great hope for the Not Quite as Grand Cat-Nabbing of '08. As to when that will be, well, I've been a total slacker about calling the scheduler, but I'm going to try to remember to do it tomorrow. Hm, it's a holiday, and I don't want to bother her... oh well, if she can't answer, that's fine, I can leave a message. :) Anyway, yes, there should be trapping again soon, for we have 4 more cats to catch (although I wouldn't hold my breath on Twinkle-Toes [the black cat with white, well, toes] because I've only seen him once in the time since the Great Cat Nabbing.

The other most frequent visitors would be Walsingham (aka Little Orange), and, surprisingly Mr Mistoffolees. I see him more often now than I did before teh Cat Nabbing. And look at this picture-- look at his wee pawsies!

I've posted 11 new pictures in the second Flickr set-- check 'em out! 3 of Mr Mistoffolees, 1 of Daphne, 2 of a Moo-Cow Pow-Wow (yes, I do make myself laugh, why do you ask?) and the rest of Pigpen!