long time

Seems I have been bad again about not blogging about my Elephants! I will try to do better...although I know I have said that before.

All the Whirlwinds are doing fine. Tempest is no longer nursing, and should have probably already gone back to be spayed. I kept her around to try to get her a bit more socialized. She really likes attention, but is still scared. She has been really interested in getting attention in the last few days though. Even from Bentley. Humm. Maybe she is going into heat again. Better get her back ASAP!

Chaos and Mayhem are both fine, and about to weight. They are pretty sweet, and don't really fit their names, although they do like to climb up my back when I sit on the floor in their room. They like to run out in the hall as soon as the door opens. Chaos is afraid of Bentley, at least a little, and tends to spit at him. Mayhem on the other hand loves Bentley, and tries to grab his face. He is very good with them, as always.

The orange twins

I picked up 2 more kittens over the weekend who need a little TLC. First was Trinket. She was hissing and spitting and not wanting anything to do with anyone when I picked her up. She even spit at Chaos and Mayhem and Tempest! They didn't seem to know how to handle that, but after a day and a half, all was well. They still tend to sleep separate, but tolerate each other at least.

Trinket was not socialized at all...

She has since decided peeps are not all that bad.

Then I went back to pick up Penny Lane. I was supposed to get them at the same time, but she seemed to be coming down with a Upper Respiratory Infection, so they kept her another day and had the vet see her. I got her last nigh, along with eye goop, Clavamox and Flagyl. Poor girl has a lot going on. She is contagious, so she is residing in the basement bathroom, with the heated floors until I can integrate her. My guess is the Whirlwinds will be gone by then, and it will be her and Trinket.

Penny Lane is still looking a bit under the weather.

Bosley is still a bit jealous...As I type he is laying over my arm, and has been in my face for the last hour as I have tried to work. He and Buck went in for their yearly check up, and Dr. Brown went on and on about how good he looks. And he finally broke the 5 pound mark! I guess he is getting bigger, but when I compare him to the 16 pound Buck, he still looks small!

Bosley likes to hang on the deck with us in the sun.

little explorers

The little oranges are growing like mad. They are both over 1 pound, and I can spend hours in there watching them. They are very funny. Neither one will eat the food without me actually putting some in their mouth first. Once they actually taste it, they devour it, but they never connect the dots until I physically put it in their mouths. Every time.

Nom Nom.

Tempest has gotten very affectionate, and loves attention. She is really blossoming now that the babies are older, and she is relaxing a bit. She is gonna be a great cat for someone, but she is still scared of people she doesn't know, and quick movements. Hopefully, she will get past that.

Chillin'

Bentley is always waiting outside the door. He wants to see the babies so bad! Tempest will have none of that. She caught a glimpse of him when I was going in to feed, and she was hissing and growling. Bentley knows to steer clear of that.

All the meds are done, the poop is normal, and both Chaos and Mayhem are using the litter box already. I am always amazed that they figure out how to use it when they are so small.

Smart girl!

Tempest is limiting their nursing time, but they still get a drink now and then. They have round fat little bellies (not from worms...they have had the first round of Panacure!) so the lack of nursing is not hurting them at all. They seem very happy and healthy.

Mama lets them get some nipple time in.

All that playing makes a kid tired.

I wish I could say who is who, but they look so much alike these days, I can't say for sure! (Thank goodness they are not both boys, or both girls!)

quiet on the home front

After a busy last week, and another trip to the vet, things seem to have settled down here. A few days after I got home with the Whirlwinds, Mayhem started to show some of the same signs as Fracas. Dropped some weight, didn't seem to be nursing as well as she should have. I jumped on it. I got an appointment with my favorite vet, and gave them all the information about Mayhem, and Fracas. (A different vet). I left her there, which I don't really like to do, but I didn't want to wait until the next morning.

Mayhem gets her milk on.

They gave me a bottle of Flagel and I also picked up some panacure wormer for both of them, and got a good jump on this thing. 2 more rounds of SubQ fluids, and 3 doses of Flagel and she was already improving. Then Chaos started to show signs, so he went on it too. Both are doing fine now. Whew.

Feeling better

So, this morning I was watching them, and realized Tempest was already starting to wean them. She was not letting them nurse. I had opened a can of food for her so I tried to see if they were interested. Nope. Then, I actually put some in a syringe and squirted a little in their mouths. Wow! They both went nuts! They were sucking the stuff out of the plate. And trying to bite the edge of it. I had seen both of them take a drink of water, but I was shocked at how fast they jumped on the canned food. Mamas are always better at the tough love than I am when I bottle feed.

I had to take down the kitty cam to use my laptop, but I hope to get it back up shortly. In the mean time, Tempest is really getting friendlier with me. She isn't afraid, and loves attention. Now to get her used to others. Time to invite the neighbors to come visit!
Won't see much more of this.

Bosley gets jealous, and is always ready for lap time.

sad news

I had to leave town suddenly on Thursday, and of course, I had to leave with a sick kitten on board. Fracas was not doing well. Eyes were bad, weight was dropping, and if you know about little ones, less than a pound, this is not a good sign.

The others had both gone through some sneezing and goopy eyes, but they got past it easily. Fracas was not so lucky. I was not happy to have to leave her, but there weren't many options. Another fosterer took them for the time I was gone. I felt horrible leaving her with a sick kitten, and I felt horrible leaving the sick kitten.

She passed away quietly Friday evening. I really wasn't hopeful she would make it. After a while, you kinda just know.

RIP Fracas.

Tempest, Chaos and Mayhem are back, and besides a little eye goop, they all look pretty good. I HOPE we won't be needing to make any more transfers again, until they all go back to the shelter. There are no plans in my future to travel, but this last trip was a last minute one too, so who knows?

Tempest chills while taking a break from the oranges.

I will get the kitty cam back up too. I need to see where they will end up, as I am sure Tempest is going to be a little frazzled with her travels, and could do some shuffling. Maybe we will get a spot with more light this go round. She seems to like under the chair at this time.

The new "nest".

Mayhem explores.

Dinner

on the move

...But I am not happy about it!

Tempest keeps moving the babies. Not a big problem, but she keeps taking them under the daybed, which has a trundle bed under it, and there is very little room, and it's hard to get them out to keep tabs and weigh them.

So, I got some heavy duty plastic sheeting, and I wrapped the base of the bed, so she couldn't get under there! Haha! I thought I was so smart! Alas, not so much. At 2:30 this morning I woke from a dead sleep..from a kitten cry! I jumped up, (almost throwing Bosley to the floor, since he was asleep on my chest) and ran to the kitten room. I looked in the "nest" and counted 2 babies, and no Tempest. Grrr. I touched one of the sleeping babies, and got the desired result. A cry. Tempest gave a low growl, and then Chaos cried, so I found him pretty easily, close to the edge. I had to pull the plastic off to get to him, and to let Tempest out! I put Chaos back in the nest and Tempest ran in immediately. I went back to bed.

At 6 AM, I got up, and checked in. Fracas was missing. Found her close to the edge, retrieved her and put her back in the nest, and went to shower. I got dressed and ready for work, and went back to the room to fix the problem.

I know now to never believe a cat can be kept out of some place it REALLY wants to be...but I HOPE I took care of it. What do you think?

Yes, it is also taped to the floor!


So, this afternoon, I decided to keep an eye on them another way.


Live video by Ustream

I know the camera isn't all that good, but for now, it's the best I have! Anyway, except for some eye goop, which seems to be better...all is well with the Whirlwinds.

You can see some eye goop on Mayhem

Everyone wants to eat.

relaxing...a little

It seems as though Tempest is relaxing a little. She is still a bit shy, and always alert to the slightest noise, and watches my every move, but she loves having her head scratched and her belly rubbed, when there aren't 3 babies attached to it!

I find it a little odd that when I come in in the morning that she is not with the babies. She has taken to crawling between the trundle bed and the blanket. The babies are always alone in the carrier, but asleep, and seemingly fine. They are all gaining weight, so I guess it's OK. I may start putting the heat disc in there at night. At least when I touch the kittens and they cry, she comes immediately to check on them. Both Chaos and Mayhem now weigh 7.0 oz, and Fracas is at 6.5 oz.

Taking a food break to mug for the camera.

Thursday marks the babies 1 week birthday! Mayhem (Joy wanted the girl to be Mayhem, so there was a name switch. She thought it was more appropriate for the girl than Chaos) has been sneezing since she got here, and although her eyes have been open for 2 days, they tend to get goopy and stuck shut, so I clean them out at least once a day. Chaos's eyes are open now too, and Fracas's look like they are starting to open.

Lunch Munch

Mayhem, goopy eyed, but they are open

Fracas looks like she is ready for siesta.

Chaos is ready to rumble.

Hard to believe Buck was this size when we first got him. His eyes were still closed, and we figure he was about 2 days old. Now he's 15 pounds, but still a very sweet guy. And still very food motivated!

The Prince, Buck-a-roo!

And yes, this is baby Buck!

Bosley seems a little jealous of my time. He is usually waiting outside the kitty room door, and is always close by...But I make sure I give him a lot of love. He doesn't like to remember when he was a little guy, and needed a lot of attention. He is doing so much better these days, although he still has vomiting issues, they are nothing like when he was a baby.

Bosley keeps an eye on my work.

they're here!

I knew it was gonna happen soon, and so it has. We finally have kittens again!

We got the call yesterday, and we went to the shelter to sign the papers, and then picked them up directly from the vet around 5:00.

We only knew there was a mama and 3 babies, born on Thursday. That's all. We signed for them, and headed out...and Joy read the paper work. So we now know this cat came in as feral, and no one knew she was pregnant. The paperwork said they came in the next morning to 4 kittens, one deceased, and that she was not feral.

She is not feral, that is true, but she is very afraid. She already seems less afraid, but she needs some work. The names assigned to them...well, let's say they are changing! Mama came in named Temple. Not horrible, but not a keeper. The babies...Ugh. Peanut, Butter and Jelly! No. Not happening.

We decided on a theme. Temple will now be Tempest. She is a torte (as you can see if you have read down this far!). The other three we have decided on as: Mayhem, Chaos and Fracas. I like that theme. We all know how kittens are. ;)

So, without further ado, here they are...The Whirlwinds.

Mama Tempest hanging with the gatitos.

She isn't sure what to think of the attention.

Babies don't really care.

Tempest hears Bentley barking outside.

She doesn't seem to worried.

Not a whole lot to see just yet, but I will do my best to take some close ups of the babies tomorrow. The buff colored ones are 1 boy, and one girl. The big boy is Mayhem. The buff girl is Chaos, and the little black girl is Fracas.