A quick update

We’ve had the four kittens for a little over 24 hours now, and they’re all doing much better than they were at this time yesterday.  Three of them are active and energetic, and they’ve decoded the mystery of “drinking from a bottle”.  Tonight I just had to hold the bottle in front of them and they’d eagerly latch on, a great change from last night when they thought I was crazy for trying to stick that thing in their mouths.  They’re also a lot quieter, except when they’re hungry, and are in a nice routine of sleeping/eating.  No more constant crying, which was probably a combination of confusion and hunger.

We took the fourth kitten to the vet this afternoon, and I’m glad we did.  She’s so small and weak compared to the others, it’s hard to believe they’re even from the same litter.  However, I found out today that this little kitten was wedged up inside the wall of a trailer with her siblings, but she was embedded so deeply that a section of the trailer had to be dismantled to remove her.  It’s possible that the death of her mother might have saved her life, because I now wonder if this kitten wasn’t being fed properly, which would account for her size and slow development.  She could also possibly have some congenital issues, of course, but today’s trip out really lit a spark in her.  First, the vet techs took time to clean more gunk out of her eyes, thus allowing them to open slightly.  I was given eye drops for her, and also some antibiotics as she sounds a bit raspy.  I was told the little thing screamed and fought the techs every step of the way, so maybe when I brought her home and tried to feed her, she realized I wasn’t as horrible as she’d previously thought.  After all, I just feed and burp and rub and pat, I don’t poke and prod.  Whatever the reason, she ate eagerly, although not in great quantity, and then did the same thing four hours later.  She’s finally sucking on the bottle also, so hopefully our initial feeding problems are over.

I forgot to mention here that the people at the construction site who found the kittens want to adopt them.  The business card I was given was of someone quite high up in management, so hopefully the kittens will have a cushy life ahead of them.  I doubt the person will want to keep all four of them (although you never know), but even if they don’t, they can probably be talked into keeping two and finding one home for the other pair.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/21 at 09:51 PM

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  1. Unrelated question: what kind of camera do you use? It seems to do a very good job.

    Posted by Susan  on  06/22  at  05:07 AM

  2. The only reason the camera seems to do a good job is because you don’t see the 20 photos I delete for every photo which turns out well ;-)  However, I think those can mostly be attributed to “operator error”, rather than any lack on the part of the camera.

    It’s an Olympus 5060.  We bought it when our Olympus 4040 was stolen (someone broke into our car and took it), and the 4040 was no longer in production.  The insurance company gave us enough money to buy the Olympus 8080, an 8mp camera, but we figured we’d be happy with the 5060 (5mp).  In retrospect it was a good decision, if only because 8mp cameras have come down in price so much that it would have really been a waste of money to have purchased one a couple of years ago.

    I really like the camera, although it initially had firmware problems and had to be returned to the factory for repair.  It’s our third Olympus camera, and we’ve also purchased one for my parents, so we like the brand.  The biggest complaint I have about it is that it can be slow—the flash takes a long time to recharge, and I might have to wait 3 seconds between photos even just using ambient lighting or outdoors, so I sometimes miss a shot because the camera wasn’t ready.  This certainly isn’t a problem limited to this camera, though, as our other compact digital has the same issue.  It’s also slightly heavy compared to more compact cameras, so we have a 4mp HP R-707 we carry around when we travel as it’s “purse-friendly”. 

    One last thing—if you look at individual photos on Flickr, the menu on the right side of the page will often tell you what type of camera was used to take the photo.  I find that helpful, especially if I see a photo of really good quality.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  06/22  at  04:34 PM

  3. Awww…I’m playing catch-up, but how nice of the folks at the site to go to such legnths to get the kittens out safely. It would be really cool if they got adopted back.
    Many years ago I found a kitten in my driveway - maybe about that age; her eyes were just starting to open. She couldn’t potty on her own, so I took her to work with me, fed her every couple of hours and had to pat her heinie with a damp paper towel to stimulate her to go.
    Her name was Floyd (Because I wasn’t as good as you at determining gender!) and she grew up to be one of those ornery, kind of evil cats but she was cool and I had her for many years.
    Enjoyed your no-kill shelter post, need to revisit and read it all more closely. In a more detailed way it mirrors my similar posting. A rather complex issue, for sure.

    Posted by Carina  on  06/22  at  05:12 PM

  4. Carina, to determine the gender of kittens, you need at least one kitten from each gender for comparison purposes :)  That’s the only thing which works for me.  I flip them all over and go, “Hmmm… three of them have one of THESE, but only one them has one of THESE, so I’ve got three of one gender and one of the other.”  This is mostly effective on short-haired cats.  I was 100% accurate on the three kittens from last December that we kept, but I’ve been less than positive about these new ones, as they have more hair and some of the details are hidden.  I’m quite sure that it’s three girls and one boy, though.

    ——-

    I thought your blog entry about “extreme animal rescues” was ironic, given that it happened on about the same day as my no-kill shelter post.  Great minds mostly think alike, except you wrote your entry from scratch, and I copied mine from a newspaper :P

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  06/22  at  08:38 PM

  5. I am so relieved to hear that the fourth little kitten is doing better.  How wonderful that the construction workers had the kindness to rescue these kittens.. and now to offer them homes.. bless them and you.

    Posted by Simply Coll  on  06/22  at  09:05 PM
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