September 9th

It’s been a tough few weeks since I last posted. The newest litter developed their mother’s URI and had terrible pink eye. I have never seen an eye infection like the ones we’ve had this summer! (An orange tabby had a bad one earlier and ended up having to have surgery.) The vet showed me how to clean the infection out from under their inner eyelids with a cotton swab; I was nervous every time I did it. The result has been worth it though, their eyes are finally clearing up with no damage. A few of the kittens got congestion in addition to the eye infection. They sounded like Donald Duck! Kittens that can’t breathe through their noses have a hard time eating and can become dehydrated quickly. I was using pediatric nasal spray and giving three of them fluids several times a day. I should be thankful that we only lost one, but …..

The remaining five kittens are doing great, they’re almost litter box trained and they are growing at a steady rate. One of the kittens had diarrhea so they are all being treated for coccidia, only a few more doses.

We call this little guy White Feet. We used to name each kitten that came into the house but we ran out of ideas so now they get named by identifying marks! He is going on three months now and is looking for a home. His fur is a little longer than the others and it is silky. He has spent his time living upstairs, away from the sick crowd so he has stayed healthy and energetic. He plays with my youngest cat and loves to snuggle with Daisy (our lab).

These guys are now adoption age (7-8 weeks). They have stayed healthy throughout this ordeal. There were four in this litter, one died the first night it was with us and the little calico died this week. The two that died were very skinny when we got them and never gained weight. The vet couldn’t find anything wrong with them; they just seemed to fail to thrive. These two have good appetites and are litter box trained. They have graduated to total freedom downstairs so they think they are big guys now! They love to snuggle when they tire of playing.