We have had a lot of foster kittens. Some came with their moms, but most of them were without. Jack and Hurley’s mom turned out to be nuts, she hissed at her babies and she tried to bite Bob. She had to be removed shortly after she arrived because we were worried about her beating up her kittens. Pippi’s mom was a little better, but after about a week she got sick of being locked up with them. She shoved her face under the door and rubbed all the fur off next to her nose.
When kittens go from nursing to eating solids they have horrible soft poops. It’s just a mess; they step in it and make a huge mess. We were constantly bathing them in the sink. Even as babies they HATE the water. They grow much slower too.
We were fortunate enough to be able to foster Little Joe and her kittens. She was The Best mom ever. She LOVED her babies and never got tired of them climbing on her or nursing. It was so sweet seeing her with them, and the best part was how healthy they were. They grew so fast we barely had them two weeks and they had doubled in size. There’s a huge difference between kittens that don’t have a chance to nurse as long as necessary and kittens that have the benefit of being with their mothers. They were solid little kittens.
As much as Little Joe loved her babies, she did NOT like being locked up. I’m sure it’s tough to go from having the world as your oyster to be cooped up all day in a bathroom with five kittens. She was sad, you could see it on her face. I know, cats aren’t supposed to have emotions, but she really looked sad. Even worse was when they all went up for adoption and she was alone. She really missed them, I felt so bad for her. We brought her home after she was spayed and kept her for a few days before we set her free. It broke my heart to see how thin she was and how she’d just given up. She would hide behind the toilet and cry when we tried to pick her up. After a few days Bob finally managed to get her in the carrier, he said she cried and then just went limp. She probably thought she was going back to the shelter.
It’s taken her a few months to trust me again, she never stopped coming around. She just didn’t let me get too close. I can’t say that I blame her. She just recently started coming up to me when I call her and letting me pet her.
She’s gotten chubby. She was a frail little thing when we got her back from her spay, I think the paperwork said she was 7 ½ pounds. I’d say she’s filled out to a nice 12-14 pounds. I was petting her the other night and I realized you can’t feel her spine or ribs anymore. She seems happy again, her best friend is Zoila. They’re always together, I like to think they go shopping together or have coffee. I’m so glad we did right by her. All her kittens were spayed/neutered, got their shots and were adopted. And she won’t ever have another litter of kittens.
No comments:
Post a Comment