Ambercup, exploring the scratcher. She’s a climber!
Pattypan gets her smug on.
Rubbing her paws together as she makes her evil plans to take over the world…
Zuke has a think.
“I am but a wee babymuffin.”
In answer to the question about Calabash’s eyes: yes, her left eye is ever so slightly smaller than her right. But it’s not as glaringly obvious as it seems in pictures – the gray fur around her right eye makes it look much bigger than it actually is.
“Watchin’ you, lady.”
Hangin’ out in the litter box. As you do.
The update on Pattypan’s leg: Last Thursday evening, when we were changing the dressing on her leg, her leg looked really awful to me. I called immediately and made an appointment to have her seen by the vet the next day. Friday morning, it looked a lot better, but I decided to keep the appointment. At the vet, I took the dressing off her leg, and the vet checked her over.
“I just… where is the drain coming out?” she asked.
Which is when I looked down at the dressing I’d taken off Pattypan’s leg, and realized that the drain had come off, along with a piece of skin.
Inwardly I was screaming and running around in horrified circles, but outwardly I kept it together. The vet basically said to keep doing what I was doing – warm compresses twice a day, change the dressing twice a day, keep her on both antibiotics – and that it looked pretty good to her. I guess that having the drain (and that small piece of skin – GAHHHHH) fall out was all Pattypan needed, because it’s looking better every day. She’s been so good about us messing with her leg, and the bandaged leg doesn’t slow her down at ALL. She is just the sweetest little thing! She’s going back to the vet this afternoon for a recheck, I’ll try to remember to update y’all about that tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you’re on Facebook, you might have noticed over the weekend that Fred announced he’d just performed his very first kitten enemas. So here’s what got us to that point.
When bottle babies are first switched over from their mother’s milk to reconstituted formula (we use KMR), it can cause constipation. The first thing I did when I realized there was an issue, was to water down their formula and added a couple of drops of olive oil to the bottle. When that got us nowhere, I began giving them baths – running their back ends under warm water in hopes of stimulating a bowel movement. That worked once or twice, but not as well as I’d hoped. Finally, by Sunday I decided that it was time to give enemas a try.
This paragraph is gross – skip it if you have a weak stomach or are eating. (Not everyone knows this – kittens aren’t born knowing how to use the litter box. When they’re raised by their mother, she licks their back ends to stimulate them to go – and she eats the result. Now, I love kittens but I have my limits. So I use paper towels to stimulate them to poop and pee. You can use a soft cloth, or a baby wipe, some people stimulate the kittens over a trash can or a litter box. I like paper towels because they absorb the urine. I’ve gone through about three rolls of paper towels in the last week.)
Now, we’ve never done kitten enemas before, and I had honestly hoped to escape this life without having to. We searched the internet for help, we discussed it, we tried to think of ANY other thing we could do, and both came to the conclusion that we had no choice. I 100% DID NOT WANT TO DO THIS.
Fred pulled 2cc of water water into a needleless syringe, and I held the first kitten, waiting for screeching and flailing from the poor kitten. And? Nothing. That kitten didn’t notice a THING. (I… did you guys want details? Because it was a matter of inserting the end of the syringe into the… end of the kitten, and slowly depressing the plunger.) Like so very many things in life, the anticipation was so much worse than the actuality. All four kittens were done in no time flat, we waited about 10 minutes, I gave them a butt bath, and there was poop.
And now we know what to do next time there’s an issue!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a note, I do know that Greg Louganis is a diver and not a swimmer. But… how does he get out of the pool after a dive? Hmm? Does he levitate? NO, he SWIMS. Ergo, a swimmer.
(Of course, by that definition, I myself am also a swimmer, since I occasionally paddle around in a pool. Where’s my medal?)
Louganis, lookin’ surprised.
Spitz, thinking about taking another run at the bottle.
“WAHHH! AM STARVIN’! WHY YOU DO ME LIKE THIS, LADY?!” Phelps.
Three of the four.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quick video! The first part was taken before the Squash Bugs moved upstairs to the foster room. They – especially Zuke – are STARVIN’. In the second part, the Swimmers (Spitz and, I think, Louganis) are also starvin’.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sheriff Mama considers giving me a TOO MANY KITTENS ticket yet again. I’m a repeat offender!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously
2014: Gilbert, taunting Jake.
2013: No entry.
2012: No entry.
2011: The Many Faces of Lucy Peppers.
2010: Maddy, then and now.
2009: Now, kitten by kitten, meet them all.
2008: Harbl airing commences.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Rambo checks his fan mail.