I have 4 little terrors running around my home these days. They are:
Single orphan -
Luke (Luciano Pavarotti, so named because he loves to yell at the top of his little lungs):
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Family of 3 orphans -
Little girl (not yet named) who is a sweet and quiet little thing:
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Fat Bastard (his ass is HUGE):
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Clark Kent (so named because he is fearless, and Superman isn't a good cat name):
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All 3 smaller kittens joining me for a nap:
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As mentioned on the Absolutely Fabulous thread, my one foster kitten, Luke, is finally feeling much better. He has spent the last 2 weeks taking medications, and just as his tummy started being normal late last week he started sneezing. This poor little guy just couldn't get better! I felt so badly for him too, because I got the other orphan kittens from the humane society so that he could have buddies to play with and he gets so sick that I can't expose him to them. Gah!
Then this morning... I wake up, he's even more full of beans than usual, his nose is clean, AND he had eaten all of his dry kibble. This is a wonderful new change that I wasn't even expecting as up until now he has only played with it. Now he won't be starving and whining when I get home from work.
In a few days he should be able to meet the other kittens for little 'play dates'. Yay!
I always find it hard with young foster orphans (which is why they give them to me, because I offer to take anything and they are the hardest) as they can be so sick and you never know what may happen. But when it works out... it's such a relief! Woohoo!
Those kitties are so cute! They look like they are all on their way to being healthy and happy. You do really great things with them.
OMG CUTENESS OVERLOAD!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
More photos, and explanations...
Fat Bastard, in his favourite position - eating out of the food dish, with his paws in the dish. When I first got him he used to lay down in the dish with all his paws spread out so that the other kittens couldn't get at HIS food. Now that they have more reliable meals he has been improving to only putting his front paws in:
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Clark Kent, asleep in my arms:
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Clark Kent again, but asleep on my legs:
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The two grey kittens, curled up asleep together:
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Hillary, their 'big brother'. He has been coping quite well, as they can't jump very high so he likes to torment them by swishing his tail in front of their faces:
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Fat Bastard only ever thinks of food, and whines all the time for it, but Clark Kent and the little girl are sweet and cuddly and polite. Clark is always the first one running out to greet me, and the little girl really likes to snuggle but she's shy and hides at first. Plus Clark has a little place in my heart because he likes to roll over on his back so that he can get a tummy-rub. In fact, the photo of him in my arms was taken after I flipped him on his back and rubbed his tummy until he fell asleep!
OMG they are BEYOND gorgeous! LOL Fat bastard doesn't look so fat or bastardly in the first pic, and him knee deep in the food in the second one is just hilarious!
Hillary is gorgeous with his big bright eyes as usual. LOL
Update:
Two steps forward and one step back... The group of 3 is at the vet today so that they can get checked. I think that they have a parasite (the same one that Luke had initially... it's a really frequent problem with orphans as cats normally have it so orphans are exposed to it and their bodies can't deal with it). At least that would be really easy to deal with, so I'm hopeful that the can confirm it. They are testing them, but most often the test is inconclusive as they can't find the problem in which case they try different medications until eventually one of them works. It would also explain why Fat Bastard looks so fat as you can't really see it from the photos but his tummy is really big and he's always hungry. They had been dewormed 1.5 weeks ago so that likely isn't the problem, but he isn't digesting his food very well so he's always eatnig but always hungry. Who knows... I may have to find him another name next week!
I debated about bringing Luke in as well, as he keeps sneezing, but he has a great appetite and he's full of energy so they said not to bother. I'd hate to expose him to more potential problems, for example another strain of upper-respiratory infection (a cold: the same thing he has right now), and I don't think that they'd be able to help much as he's generally healthy.
Fingers crossed that they find the problem, or that the meds work! If so... we will all be much happier as a result. I won't have to wash their floor daily, they will feel a lot better (I'm sure their tummies aren't happy right now), and Luke will be able to PLAY!
Another update:
I brought them together tonight to play. I did this after giving everyone their medications (only one more dose for Luke!) and feeding the troop. It was quite a circus as Luke was going completely nuts and harassing all the little ones.
We eventually sorted out a system... my legs were 'amnesty'. If any of the kittens hopped up on my legs then they were safe from harassment. Well, not exactly from each other as the little ones still played amongst themselves a bit, but it was much friendlier. Luke could join them, but only to cuddle. In fact right at the end I had all the kittens up on my lap and Luke curled up next to Fat Bastard and started kneading and sucking on his ear. It became problematic as I kept chuckling and my body would shake and wake everyone up.
This one is from last night, when I introduced Clark Kent to Luke (and Clark found his 'safety' zone in my hand):
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The rest are as described, with the 3 little kittens trying to escape from Luke. In the last one he was cooperating and being nice:
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These are the photos of the interactions between the kittens. Luke enjoyed chasing after Clark, and was being a bit mean about it, but Fat Bastard got totally into it and was protecting his brother. In the end the two younger kittens had even started 'fighting back' and were chasing Luke around a bit. It's so important for Luke's mental health and future social skills that they all learn to get along, and I'm sure that they will as soon as they can sort out a way of fighting fair. Luke is much bigger than the rest so I'm hoping that in a week or so when everyone is healthy (fingers crossed!) then they will all be able to interact well. I'm hoping to have them play together for a bit every day to get used to it.
The little girl isn't in these photos because she's the wimp due to her much smaller size, and I think she's the most sick so she's the most lethargic recently. Plus her body had the first dose of medication today and that also weakens her (it helps longer-term because the meds are attacking and killing the parasites, but for now anything foreign in her tummy is making her sleepy).
Mortal combat:
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I have a suggestion for the little grey girl kitten. Mysteria. Aka Misty.
They are so cute!