friday!

Dinner time is a frantic time at kitty central. This batch of itty bitties are very food motivated. They have pretty good internal clocks, and they start the chorus of mew at about 6 am, or as soon as they hear any sign that someone is stirring. Bam, 2 cans go down.



Lunch time is normally at about 1:30 or 2, when they hear me arrive home from work. The screaming continues until I open the door, and gets louder the closer I get to the door! Opening the door is another interesting part of the ritual. They all spill out as fast as possible, only to run back in behind me and climb over each other and the food bowls, until I get the cans open and in the bowls.



After the bellies get full, they like to climb on me, or play attack the feet! I learned long ago not to enter the kitty room without socks, and never to enter with shorts on. They tend to think when they are young that people = kitty condo. Jeans are the safest attire.






Nadine has just finished a meal, but has yet to take a bath!

little piglets

I had to go pick up more kitty cans today. That would be food. These guys are growing, as well they should, considering they eat 6 cans of food a day! And I don't mean the little cans, I mean the big ones. I got 2 cases. Hopefully, that will keep them in food until they are ready to go back. OK, probably not, but maybe close.

They all continue to be delightful, and fun to hang out with. They also continue to wake me up at ungodly hours, crying for breakfast. Or attention. Or both.

I have to admit, I will be sad to see this group go, but I am sure they will all find homes quickly.

dog days

Bentley loves those itty bitties. And they do return the love. He walks in the room, and they all gather under his legs, looking up like the is the God of all kittens. Reminds me of that scene in Toy Story, when Buzz Lightyear gets stuck in the claw machine, and all the little yellow martian-like toys think he is God.




Niles, Norton, Ebony and Nadine are at least cautious, but Jet is not afraid in the least. As a matter of fact, she plays pretty hard with Bentley, grabbing his legs or face, whatever is closest. She is absolutely fearless. She is gonna be one great watchcat.

gaining steady

The itty bitties are all gaining, and I am finding mostly solid normal stools in the litter box, which makes me very happy. Jet is still the biggest, and exudes personality. Nadine is still the smallest, but is back over 1.3. They are all very affectionate, and when they finally go back, I know they will be adopted quickly.

Message to Deb D., from Jet..."I want to come live with you!" (I think I heard Ebony saying the same thing...)




Buck and I had a great game of paper ball fetch tonight. Freaked the itty bitties out a little, but they weren't too scared to watch. (Notice the poofed out tails!)
Jet stole the ball, and Buck watched until he saw his chance to get it back.






The running of the elephants continues each night, and the cries in the morning start now about 4:30AM. I no longer get up to check on them, but my ears are so attuned to the sound of kitty cries, it always wakes me up. I gave in today, and got up at 5:30.

all is well

Well, although Nadine is still slow to gain weight, she is for sure eating. She is steady at about 1lb, 2 3/4oz. She even felt like she had a full belly tonight.

Still seeing some sloppy poop in the box, but everyone seems very active, eating and drinking, so I am not going to worry too much right now

They got to run around for a while tonight. Sounded like a heard of elephants running up and down the hall. Still amazes me how loud they sound when they run.

Tomorrow night we are having some folks over for wine and dinner, so I will need to do a pretty big kitty room cleaning in the morning. They are going to be quite popular I think. And they are going to love it.

cries in the night...and day

These kittens are very spoiled. If they hear a voice, or even a stair creak, they cry, cry cry, like they are being torn limb from limb! Of course, they are fine. They just want some company. they are all growing, and gaining, some slower than others, but all seem to be doing OK.




I watched Niles deliver a big sloppy poop yesterday, and again this morning. I am sure it has everything to do with the antibiotic they are on. The good news is, they are done with it. The bad news is, there is still some sneezing. Hopefully, it will pass. They are all eating, and hopefully, they will continue that trend.

They do love attention. This should be one group that will be well socialized, for sure.

picking up

I think Nadine has turned the corner. She is now at 1lb, 2 1/2 oz! She is still lower than she was at her best, but she is gaining, and eating better. (I didn't even give her the nasty appetite stimulant today!)

Norton gained a little too, which is good, as he had not been gaining for the last couple of days. Everyone seems good. (Keeping my fingers crossed!)



Jet being cute





It seems the litter box is the place to be



And they love this box



Norton throws down Nadine, but she is not giving up!

85%

Nadine is not 100% just yet. I think about 85. She is feeling better for sure, but she is still not gaining like she should be. Jet on the other hand is quite the piglet. I think she is a little over the top. Someone blew chunks today, and my guess is it was her. She is the biggest of the bunch at 1lb, 13 oz. Little Nadine just climbed to 1lb 2 oz! Yay!





Norton is not gaining now either. I think tomorrow, they all start on Panacur, which is a worming medication. They hate it. It's like liquid chalk, and I have cleaned enough white sprayed drops of the floor and walls to know that they don't care for it. Worms is a good guess for weight loss, and vomiting. It's easy to give...well, as easy as giving any medication to a cat. They normally get wormed ever 2 to 3 weeks when they are kittens. Just goes with the territory.



They all got run of the upstairs for a little while today. They sure don't seem to be suffering from anything. They ran, jumped, puffed out and scampered for a good half an hour, and no one slowed down until I caught them and put them back in their room.



Just went in to give them there evening dose of Clavamox, and coax Nadine into eating some more, and had to fight Jet too keep her from eating the baby food. (yes, that's what Nadine is eating now. Anything to get her to eat!) After about 5 or 6 minutes, Jet proceeded to vomit again. And then again. Just a pitstop in her little whirlwind world, she continued to play between spews! I gave her her does of antibiotics, and had to pull her away from the food I put down for the others! She is quite the eater.

I hear them thumping around in there now. I guess they all feel OK.

vet visit

Nadine went to the vet today. I was very concerned because she had gone from 1.5 to 1.1 in a matter of 3 days. She is still at 1.1 3/8, but she is eating. She got an appetite stimulant, which must be nasty tasting, because it smells really bad, and the foaming of the mouth kinda makes me think Natalie doesn't like it much. She is eating though, so it is working.



Nadine has enough energy to play a bit.



Norton needs a face wash.



Nadine and Niles get the smack down going.



Jet is queen of her domain!



Ebony plays with Nadine's collar and tag.

I gave the folks at the vet my blog address, and when I left today, they were oohing and awwwing. Of course, how could they not, with the cute itty bitties pictures posted here?

They are upstairs crying now, wanting attention. Spoiled. Imagine.

weight loss

If it was me losing weight, it would be a good thing. Unfortunately, it's Nadine.

Yesterday was a crazy day for me, and I didn't get to spend the time I wanted to with the itty bitties. I fed them in the morning, cleaned the boxes, and left the house. Back in at 1, fed, cleaned, and out again until about 9. I was beat. I fed, cleaned boxes and took only a short look around, to make sure everyone was ok, and I went off to bed. I didn't notice anything obvious going on.



Jet meets Buck



Nadine watches the fan

Tonight I weighed in, and all was fine, until I got to Norton. He was the same weight he was on Tuesday. Then I was shocked when I weighed Nadine. She was at 1.5 3/8 oz on Tuesday, and had dropped to 1.2 oz tonight. I picked her up, and noticed she had that sort of limp feel of a kitten that hasn't been eating. Kittens bellies are almost always full, and taught. Not Nadine. I checked for dehydration, by pulling the skin up on the back of her neck, and watching to see if it snapped back, or if it stayed pinched for a few seconds after letting go. Seemed ok. Checked her gums to see if they looked dry or white. Looked OK, but I gave her 3ml of subQ fluids anyway, to be safe. Dabbed some Nutrical on her nose, so she could get some calories in her, and "primed" her with some water reduced Avoderm canned food by squirting some in her mouth with a syringe. I sat her down in front of the food, and she did eat some. Not much, but some. I will see how she is in the morning, weigh her again, and see if I can get her seen by a vet.



Nadine still has the energy to get a little play time in



Niles and Norton play in the basket of clean towels



Ebony on the condo

Everyone else seems OK. After dinner, Ebony immediately climbed to her favorite spot on my shoulder. Jet and Norton played, and so did Niles. Nadine even played for a little while. I hope she is better tomorrow.

New game

They learned something new! Charging the door as soon as it opens, and crying like someone is squeezing them when they want attention! I am having a hard time getting work done when I have to go check on them every 10 minutes to make sure they haven't gotten themselves into some king of pickle! Talk about the kittens that cried wolf!



Niles nibbles



Ebony in the hammock



Norton & Jet mix it up



Nadine has a chewing problem!


Norton plays with the "expensive" toy!


They do love to play. And they love attention. I picked up Nadine and put her on my knee while I was sitting cross legged in the room. Next thing I knew, she was asleep. They like to sleep on you. In that way they are like all the other litters.

They get their last dose of antibiotics tonight. Hopefully no more sneezing.

Monday Funday

We got through the weekend in Cat-town with no big problems. Seems Ebony has some liquid stool problems, but she continues to gain weight, so I will continue to watch her closely, and give her some of the kaopectate (sp?) I got for Robyn last go round. It already seems to be a bit better than when she first got here, and no one else is having the same issue.



I am seeing more personality now, but all 5 of them are pretty darn sweet! Ebony has become my favorite. She was the first to climb up my back and make herself at home on my shoulder. She is content to sit up there and watch the others play. She will mix it up with them, too, but she loves to sit up high. She also likes to climb on my face!



They all seem to like the hammocks in their room too. There is one I tied to the chair, and one on the kitty condo, and they all seem to like to crash there.





Jet is a very appropriate name for the little black and white. (turns out Jet is a girl, even though she has a blue collar) She is always jetting around the room. She has also already started trying to dart out the door whenever it opens. She is non-stop. Here she is making sure I fill out the daily log correctly, and then spazzing out on one of the kitty beds.



Nadine is the most photogenic of all in this group. She is just beautiful, and it seems like she knows it!



Niles is one that loves the hammock. I don't think there has been I time yet when I have gone into the room at naptime, that he has not been in one of them. He likes to wrestle with my shoe string too.



Norton likes to play the "cuteness card." He will pull it out at any given opportunity. It never fails to get his lots of kisses!



And then there is dinner time. This tends to look the same for all the litters!