Stayin’ Alive

All the kittens are still alive. This includes horribly sick little Duck. There is still no diagnosis for them, but Duck officially got smaller today than he was the day I got him, almost a month ago. Maybe 3 weeks – it’s hard to tell when you are so spiritually worn out.

These are all the kittens who crashed or have gotten horribly sick:

Pegasus here was the first. She vomited earlier in the day before crashing.

A few days later we found Lamb crashing behind the litter box. She bounced back as nicely as Pegasus.

And poor Duck, who has yet to crash, but is instead wasting away for no reason we can diagnose.

This is horribly unfair that sweet little kittens should suffer like this. Michael tells me that Duck is surviving by my sheer force of will. I can make him eat Nutri-Cal (a high-calorie supplement), but he tries not to take the bottle. The only thing that can make him purr is nursing on his surrogate mother, but every time he does that he backslides a bit. I am actually thinking I will return his mother this week since she is nearly dry anyhow. What is a foster mother to do?

I learned long ago to make my peace with the fact that not all of my kittens will survive. I have a stupid, but personally significant habit of not wanting them to die homeless, so I count them amongst my own. If there is an accounting of your deeds when you die, someone is going to ask what kind of cruel person could possibly kill so many kittens that belonged to her. Not that I couldn’t explain, but still.

This part of fostering is by far the hardest. The constant fear that the next visit to the kitten room will produce a dead kitten, the need to administer treatments that seem scary or painful, or at the very least taste bad, the just not knowing what to do. That is what’s difficult. On the other hand, it’s really easy to love the kittens. And I really do.

I am not sure if we are on a death watch or if we are just waiting out a cruel disease, but I will let you know when it is over, either way it happens. Let’s hope for the best outcome.

Squee!

I bought it! I got the Ashford Traveller from Urban Fauna yesterday. Ashford mailed it today and it should be here any day now. It’s only coming from Washington state to San Francisco, so it shouldn’t be long. Oh, joy (no, Traveller)! I can’t wait to take it home and finish it to match my niddy noddy, then spin the heck out of my fiber stash.

I can’t stop raving about Urban Fauna. Jamie sent me the invoice today and told me that the fiber combs I also ordered were on backorder. As a special touch, she researched a tutorial about how to use the combs so she could help me out. How nice is she? I like giving my business to people like that.

There is barely any news to give about the kittens. They are growing bit by bit. They have gotten to a more playful stage now, so when we let them into the kitchen we end up with a zoo full of wrestling, attention seeking sand burrs. Seriously, when I get across the kitchen I often have at least 2 kittens clinging to my pants legs and I have to pluck them off. Their little claws snag my pants (I have to remember to not wear knit materials and only wear jeans!) and I get the same ripping noise as the burrs. As fast as I can remove them, the kittens reattach themselves to my legs. Such pests (but I love them)!

I am hoping to catch a video of this sometime, but Wisteria learned a new trick. I keep a baby gate up in the doorway between my kitchen and my living room. Sometimes I will step over the gate to do other things while the kittens are out. Monday morning I noticed that Wisteria was in the living room, but I couldn’t recall having let her out. I asked Michael if he had done it, but he hadn’t. I let her roam (she needs very little supervision because she is respectful of my adult cats), and thought nothing of it. I’m a little senile sometimes and forget things that I just did. I stepped back over into the kitchen, and in moments Wisteria came flying over the gate like the sheep you might count before falling asleep. It was kind of incredible. I left the kittens in the kitchen this morning so they could have more space to play while I did some computer stuff. Despite me not letting her out, Wisteria was peeping in the office a few minutes later. She came running to my chair and asked to be picked up. I love that all she wants is to be where I am. I never have to worry about her wandering off because of that. Man, am I going to miss her when she’s ready to go. At least I got to have her for awhile.

Tiki and Ling Ling have been a little unwell. Tiki cries a bit when I pick her up, I think because I am putting pressure on her gassy tummy. I have been putting probiotics in their food and feeding her Gripe Water a few times a day to alleviate the gas. Otherwise, she is playful and alert. Ling Ling is still kind of tiny. He is a full 100g behind the next smallest kitten now. I started to worry about him the last few days he was on the bottle. He couldn’t manage to drink it without getting some milk in his lungs, so I got him onto food as fast as I could. I didn’t want him to aspirate and die just because I was too lenient with the bottle. Now he isn’t really growing, and I am wondering if it’s related to the reason he started inhaling the milk. Poor guy.

After we sent Sunshine to the shelter, Moonlight reverted to her semi-feral ways. She ran every time we opened the kitten room door, she hid behind her bed when I visited her – it was a mess. I felt like a really bad person for taking her sister away. All I can figure is that Moonlight felt very confident with people if she was with her sister, but now that she can’t draw courage from Sunshine, poor Moon is scared out of her mind. I thought all the socializing we and several friends did was swirling down the toilet. Lo and behold, On Monday she got over her fear. I can’t figure out why. She stopped running away and she even purrs when we pet her.

When Michael gave her a magic neck rub tonight, Moonlight dropped her head back to revel in it, exposing her vulnerable neck and tummy. I have such a hard time understanding how 48 hours ago she couldn’t find any reason to trust us, but suddenly today we have the magic touch that she’s been craving. I have decided that the inner workings of a cat’s mind are not for mere humans to understand.

Well, let’s not give up on her yet.

Making choices

My insomnia has absolutely wrecked me this week. I can feel it getting better now, but I just haven’t had ambition to get much done with my messed up schedule. So, I’m sorry that I haven’t updated my blog, but I had to make choices about what to do with my time.

I photographed most of my stash for Ravelry. It took hours. I have a lot of yarn. I still haven’t gotten the pictures uploaded yet, but the hardest part is over.

Alexis’ blanket is complete. I can send it out with her brother’s present on Monday and that will all be settled. I learned from this experience that I hate weaving. I just loathed every minute of it. I tried to like it. I mean, it’s fiber art, that makes it fun by definition, right? Let’s just say it has taken discipline to finish. I like the blanket, just not the work it took.

I think that leaves me with just 9 WIPs. I suppose I should add that I started a potholder sometime in the last month or so. I’ve left it in the desk drawer for awhile, then I started carrying it around in my purse.  Let’s count the WIPs, shall we?

1. Crochet potholder. I have no pictures yet, but I will post the FO.
2. Blaze. (The sweater I showed the people in Vancouver)
3. Kilt hose.
4. Tunisian crochet cat bed. I think I am going to abbreviate this one and make it into a kitten blanket given that I saw a mistake the other day.
5. Romantic Cardigan. I just haven’t touched it this year.
6. Dishcloth. I haven’t really needed to replace any of the ones I have, so it isn’t that big of a deal yet.
7. Carisa’s afghan.
8. The cat afghan.
9. Jen’s socks swatch.

The worst part is, I have every intention of starting a new project despite this list. I have jury duty starting the week of the 9th, and they don’t allow knitting needles in the building. The do, however, allow crochet hooks, so I am bringing the beginnings of my nephew Blaine’s blanket (hopefully to be completed by Christmas).

The kittens have been passing around a pretty nasty cold. I start them on meds the first day they lose a little weight and that seems to clear it up. It’s just that they’ve been stuffed up so they can’t breathe while they eat – so they quit trying. I think with the ringworm, the eye infections and the URI Nebby is on like 5 different drugs. That poor fellow.

On the bright side, the diarrhea is going away. I gave the kittens Albon for coccidia, and the distinctive smell went away. The poop only got marginally better - from pure liquid to pancake batter. I added canned pure pumpkin to their food, and suddenly we have poop with form. Yes, this is my life - the study of poo.  You should see the pictures I took for the kitten manual. Who photographs poop (other than someone with a fetish)? For the record, that isn’t me. <shivers>

Well, I need to try to sleep. We are going canoeing with some friends tomorrow morning, so I have to be up early (6:45) to care for the kittens before we leave.

Cassie is sick

This post won’t have any pictures, but that’s probably for the best. Cassie was totally fine as of midnight last night, but this morning she barfed up about 3 puddles. My first concern is Panleukopenia because a) I had a cat with it last year and it came on just as fast, and b) she just got to me from the shelter. I gave her subcuteaneous fluids (sub-q fluids is how I abbreviate it), and within minutes she tried some of her wet food. I gave her a few hours, and she has moved on to eating more of her dry food. I think this means it isn’t Panleuk. I still have to keep a close eye on her.

I feel terrible about what you have to do to a cat who is already sick. First, I stuck her with a needle and gave her a hump on her back. After she had some nap time, I shoved a thermometer in her rear end. Her temp was pretty normal (100.5°F), but she is still down. Fortunately, Cassie seems to know I am helping her. Many cats don’t see it that way.

I am planning to take her kittens on a field trip to the shelter today while I discuss the manual in progress with the foster coordinator. It should give her time to convalesce. Cross your fingers for poor Cassie!