One kitten is not easier than four

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I was all cheery and cocky about how easy it was to raise just one kitten?  I could spend lots of time with her, it hardly took any time to feed her, etc.?  I take it all back - it’s not that easy!  She’s very, very fussy, I think because she doesn’t have any littermates for cuddling and entertainment.  I’m trying to spend a lot of time with her to compensate, but she’s like a colicky baby.  She’s eating enough, is energetic, and seems very healthy, so I’m not worried about her physical health.  I just hope I’m properly tending to her emotional health.

I’ve tried to elicit Missy Mae’s help, but she’s been reluctant so far.  She might come around.  In the interim, I ordered a Doggles Comfort Pal (the small kitten one), and I hope it will arrive by tomorrow.  It supposedly has an audible heartbeat—too bad it doesn’t have a heat source.  I’ll have to wrap it in a towel because Madison is learning to, um, poop and pee on her own.

Other than screeching like a banshee, she really is fun.  She loves being cuddled up under my chin and having her belly rubbed.  I wish she was a better eater - she takes a very long time to eat - but she’s still fun.  Loud, though!  Loud!  I’m waiting for the neighbours to ask us if we’ve got a baby in the house.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 02/08 at 10:13 PM

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  1. Leigh-Ann, I can’t help it, I’m thinking you need some kind of pouch to just carry her with you everywhere. I *know* kittens are much too energetic for that, but since you can’t stay with her ALL THE TIME, she needs to go with you. No, no, no. TJ’s too big and Missy Mae’s not interested. You need to find a playgroup for her! That’s it!!!
    Sorry, I’m punchy. I’ve spent DAYS analyzing a bunch of weather data, only to find out some idiot replaced missing values with 0s. Even in MN, it was NOT 0 degrees in May. Someone else already “verified” this data, so I didn’t expect this. ARGH. We went back to the simple, 2 minute solution. An 8-year average will just have to be good enough.

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat's Mom  on  02/09  at  03:16 PM

  2. The one time I bottle raised a kitten, initially she was small enough that I took her to work with me and stuffed her down my bra so she could stay warm in between feeding and pottying and all that. It was a lot of work!
    She grew up quite a feisty thing, I had her for many years.

    Posted by Carina  on  02/10  at  06:20 AM

  3. Sounds like a kitten, like a baby will take up all allotted time: 1 kitten will take as much time as 10 kittens, because they expand to fill what time there is.

    Posted by Diana  on  02/10  at  10:38 AM

  4. I’d love to invent a pouch to carry Madison (or other foster kittens) around with me (I’m not well-endowed enough to create my own space just using a bra, all MacGyver-like).  The only concern I had about that was worrying whether she’d get enough rest that way.  She reacts to every little noise and movement now, so I think a pouch could have either made her better about that, or worse—it’s hard to say.  Is is bad if I say that sometimes I’m glad to leave her downstairs while I run upstairs to get away from her for a while?!

    A note to VTM - when you wrote your comment, I’d just had a very bad day at my freelance job, where I was dealing with a nutcase accusing me of, well, accusing me of something that she’d imagined.  I was at the end of my rope with her, so I definitely sympathize when you work with people who ignore the details!

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  02/10  at  08:14 PM
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