The newest little adventure we have set out on is rescuing a litter of 1.5 week old kittens.
Yep. Its pretty much as crazy as it sounds.
One Friday we discovered they had fallen down a wall and were in there for over a day when we tore the wall apart, got them out and gave them to their mommy. She happily scampered to her babies and my boss got them a box to live in out in the shop yard. Early Monday morning I could hear kittens in my office walls...again. We walked upstairs and there lay two kittens, screaming, dirty, and covered in insulation. We found the third one later that morning when we discovered it had fallen down the wall unlike the other two. Another one was found in the bottom of the wall the next morning. Mommy cat was never seen. We waited all day for her to come check for her kittens but no one saw her. I went and got kitten formula so I could at least try to keep their strength up. When we took them out of the wall, only one had their eyes just starting to open. By the next day all of their eyes were open.
Then the fun started. I brought home all the screaming, hungry kittens and Lefty was thoroughly annoyed by the situation. He didn't even want to be in the house the first couple of days! The kittens hated the bottle and it was a struggle to get them to eat.
We got up in the night to fight to feed them. Screaming. Pooping. Clawing. All wonderful to experience in the wee hours of the morning.
After the second full day, they were starting to take to the bottle a little bit. All but one. She was the loudest but was slowly becoming the weakest. She passed away that afternoon. Ryan solemnly buried her in our yard under an oak tree.
By Thurs/Friday we had somewhat of a routine down. We had a heating pad on a timer so it wouldn't automatically turn off every two hours. They were taking the bottle pretty good. We could tell they each had their own personalities. The only girl left we affectionately began call Little Bit. (We had to keep track of them somehow!) She was the quietest of all of them and very laid back. She was becoming Ryan and my-self's favorite of the bunch. Two boys were left, also, one we didn't call anything and the other we called Bubba, Baby Boy, or "Holy Crap Stop Eating So Fast."
Saturday morning, after all of the chaos of the week we had caved to exhaustion and I suddenly woke up from what felt like a coma. "Ryan! Its nearly 10am! We have to get up NOW!" I ran into the living putting on a t-shirt to feed them. I went to the fridge to get formula ready and then went back to see the kittens. One laid there still, dead in his sleep. Little bit was barely breathing. I couldn't stand it. We were working so hard and I felt like it was my fault! I ran, rather panicked and angry into our bedroom with Little Bit in tow. "Ryan! GET UP NOW!"
We buried the boy next to his sister. Baby Boy was doing fine-hungry as usual. Little Bit, it appeared, was going to pass any moment. I held her tiny, weak body in my hands and wrapped a towel around her to stay warm. I called the vet and they said there just wasn't anything they could do but we could try some Pedialyte from now on to see if that might help. I held her for over 5 hours. I sobbed and prayed over that kitten. You might think that's ridiculous but I was very serious. Every 30 minutes or so I was trying to feed her. I waited to see if she would ever stop breathing. By that evening, she had started to purr again. She wanted to take the bottle but wasn't eating much. She was doing better....she stayed that way all Sunday. She was severely dehydrated but she was drinking tiny amounts of the formula/Pedialyte mixture. Ryan said, "I can't wait to see her back to normal."
Sunday night, Ryan took the first shift to feed at around 1:30 in the morning. Around 3, I think, he came back to bed. I groggily asked how everyone ate. He hugged me. I could tell he was starting to cry. "Little Bit didn't make it. I'm sorry."
I didn't sleep but a couple of hours for the rest of the night. I was constantly getting up to check on the other kitten and worrying in my bed for most of the rest of the night. Monday morning was a very rough start to say the least. We, by this point, started to notice a change in Baby Boy. He hadn't pooped in hours and hours. With the amount of food he sucks down, that can't be good. Now, with two dead in about 24 hours, I'm thinking Worst Case Scenario! I called the vet as soon as they opened and made an appointment. He was fine. Just constipated.
Things have been going much smoother. Baby Boy is bouncing around and still eating like crazy. He has gained about and ounce and a half since we first took him home. We only have to feed him every 3 to 4 hours because he's doing so much better and...he eats a lot, like a LOT. Anyways, Tuesday night I got home. I've been so exhausted between the kittens and the stress of my last week at work (yeah, I need to update everyone on that, too) I wearily got formula together and started to feed him. Every time he barely ate, formula started pouring out of his nose! It kept happening and so he eventually didn't want to eat anymore. He was sneezing all of this milk out of his nose and I started to panic. Again...worse case scenario. I was Googling things trying to figure out what was going to happen to him! Ryan arrives home to his wide-eyed wife that's holding a sneezing 5 oz kitten with milk all over its face meowing frantically. "Ryan! This keeps happening! What if his mouth isn't fully formed or there is something wrong with his nasal passage?!!"
Ryan picks up the bottle as he listens to me. "Let me see," he says as he examines the tiny bottle.
"Jen. The lid isn't screwed on all the way. Its basically free flowing into his face. He's fine."
I, honestly, nearly cried but I started to laugh like a lunatic instead.
We are still getting the hang of it, but its really cool to watch this little guy discover new things every day and grow so much just the short time we've had him in our care.
Lefty is still skeptical of his presence. I'm sure he's concerned about his place in the family.
We haven't decided, after everything that has happened, whether or not we will find a home for him or keep him but we'll work on weaning sometime soon.
Until Next Time...
