Day 16

If you’re sick and tired of kittens, well, you’re in the wrong place.  It’s all kittens, all the time!  Well, every 4 to 6 hours, anyway.  I’ve cut back on their feeding times, thank goodness, as the fatigue was really starting to wear on me (I think kittens + holidays is a tough combination).  I now feed them 5 or 6 times each day, and it’s working out well for all of us.  They’re eating as much as they should in total each 24 hour period, their weight is climbing steadily, and they all seem to be peeing and pooping normally.  Thanks, btw, to Susan and Dr. Jen for their hints and tips in response to my diarrhea question—I actually did a quick fecal check with my own microscope and didn’t see anything abnormal in there (my microbiology classes come in handy sometimes), so that eased my concerns.  I also don’t think the kittens were having actual “diarrhea”, but more like “runny stools”, probably because all they eat is liquid.  I did a phone check with someone from the vet’s office who felt that everything sounded normal, so for now I guess everything is positive.  In the future I’ll have a better idea of what constitutes “normal”, and maybe I won’t have to ask so many questions.

One thing I’ve definitely learned from this is to *not* change the kittens’ food.  Flippy has been quite sick since Monday night, and when I ran low on canned liquid KMR, I started to feed the reconstituted KMR powder that I’d purchased “just in case” (in lieu of a trip to the store).  The powder was a lot less expensive than the cans of liquid, too (so far, we’ve spent about $50 just on food for these guys, with the KMR costing $7 per can at Petsmart), so I thought I’d just switch to the powder and it would save money.  Well, *I* thought the powder was great and easy enough to mix up, but the kittens did not like the change.  The powder was a different colour and consistency than the canned liquid, and tended to thicken up the longer it sat.  Scampi refused to eat much of it, and all the kittens became a bit “stopped up” from it.  I only gave it to them for about a half a day before we decided to go to the store and buy the liquid KMR again.  I’ll give the opened, $11 can of powder to the vet’s office, I guess, so it won’t go to waste, and in the future I’ll stick to the canned liquid.  In the future I’ll also buy the liquid online, where it only costs $3 per can—I can’t believe I’ve been paying twice that :p

Here’s a photo of the gang, taken last night.  All eyes are open now, and they’ve started to play with each other, and to do cute things like put their feet in their mouths.  Today, Bing attempted to scratch her ear with her hind foot.  This is probably the last photo I’ll be able to take holding the three of them together, as Tie is now almost too large for me to hold in one hand, and Bing is quickly closing the gap.  Oh, and Susan—Scampi’s points are starting to come in a beautiful grey colour.  His feet, tail, and ears get darker every day.

image

Little update—our cable modem died as I was originally writing this entry.  I happened to have a “backup” modem on hand, which I bought on eBay a few months ago.  When I tried to activate it with the cable company, it turns out it might have been stolen—yet a THIRD piece of electronics from eBay I’ve purchased that had a questionable history, so caveat emptor.  We ran out this morning to Circuit City to buy yet another modem, and it took over half an hour on the phone to activate it, as there was a problem with its MAC address.  In any case, I’m back, and I’ll write my New Year’s Eve entry later today, when I’ve recovered from modem stress.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/31 at 06:21 AM

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  1. I really want one of those kitties, you have no idea.  Toby really needs a little brother (Rosella doesn’t want a girl) because he’s being reclusive and weird again.  Although he did spend the whole day playing. (He was cooped up inside the closet yesterday because of the fireworks - he’s probably making up for lost playtime)

    Posted by celine  on  01/01  at  01:13 PM

  2. I never tire of your Kitten stories.  I am so very caught up in your adventure.

    Wishing you and yours (furry and human) the happiest of New Years.

    Posted by Simply Coll  on  01/01  at  04:11 PM

  3. Oh, look at the babycats, is one a meezer?
    They are adorable.

    Posted by PJ  on  01/01  at  08:37 PM

  4. Celine, why doesn’t Rosella want a girl cat?  If the cat is spayed/neutered, I don’t think there’s really much difference.  Does she have a name in mind for a boy cat?!

    And PJ, I had no idea what a “meezer” was, but I looked it up :)  Yes, the little guy on the left is probably a lilac point—his feet, tail and ears are growing a deeper shade of grey every day, and his face is slowly starting to darken as well.  His body is a completely different shape and weight than his brother and sister—he’s much more tapered and lanky, while the other two are shaped like pears.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann (aka Mudpuppy)  on  01/02  at  07:40 AM

  5. Those little outstretched toes are just too cute.  :)

    Posted by Expat  on  01/03  at  08:44 PM

  6. Beaut-i-fool babies!!!!

    Posted by Debra  on  01/04  at  03:42 PM
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