Oh the Joy

Thought I had better pop up and fill followers in on the goings on from the last vet day.

The Duo had limited time as they weren't gaining weight and had reoccurring diarrhea despite their positive bacteria meds. They didn't show interest in food and I'd have to pick them up and stuff their nose in food to get them to eat. I found no point in syringe feeding because when I did then not long after vomit would appear in the cage and the poor kittens would be less active and feeling more 'bleh'

Sparky deciding my brother was a nice warm place to rest

Flash intrigued by camera

I went to the vet check this Thursday - due to public holidays falling on the usual days - and fully expected the Duo to be put down as per vet suggestion during their last visit. The vet that was there found no symptoms of illness, no temperature and figured they might just be suffering a hump and might get over it and begin eating like there's no tomorrow in the near future so he gave them a pass.

Its by no means a guarantee. They are still teetering on the fine line of keep or let go.

Flash is perky, interested in food and is gaining again. Silly kitten. Sparky is still just 'bleh'. She isn't vomiting but I am pointing at her as the culprit for the bad stool in the litter tray. Fingers crossed for them.

The Quads are eating like miniature horses. I put food down and woosh it's gone again. Rebel, Pip and Jet became big boys and girls receiving their first vaccination with so little as a peep. Temperature checks before said injection weren't tolerated near as well.

Squeak was extremely skinny when she first turned up with the litter and has always been quite a bit behind. Her siblings are rapidly getting closer to 700 grams and she's puttering along steadily towards 600 grams. Its not for lack of eating, Squeak can eat and talk quite well.

Little lovable Squeak

Now, getting to the reason for the title....

Sparky and Flash have a new roomie.

Please meet and greet little Smokey Howler.

Bearing a milk goatee

This little grey 4 week old kitten was brought in on the Thursday. Poor little thing is utterly bewildered and hasn't quite settled in yet. When this little pip squeak wants something he surely tells people about it. The set of lungs he has is exceptional.

Smokey refusing to look the right way

Smokey was supposed to be the kitten to help break the sadness of Flash and Sparky going then they got the okay to wait until next vet check...

I went with six, I returned with seven and double the work.

Smokey recently threw up a bit and I'm putting it down to over indulging in milk on an empty stomach. Silly boy.

Sparky and Flash aren't out of the woods as yet but I hold hope that they may pick themselves back up soon.

Flash having a wander and play

Christmas Wishes and Prayers

The mystery illness with the Quads - Rebel in particular - has never been figured out but she's bounced back amazingly. We did have a scare on Wednesday with some picky eating and vomiting but that seems to have cleared up and the kittens are in the midst of some form of growth spurt.

Food goes down. Turn around. Kittens have inhaled it.

Rebel, coming out more orange than the others

Jet learning hypnosis with his stunning eyes

The proverbial twins

Pip being talkative

And Squeak with her regular smug grin

Needless to say plans to avoid a vet day didn't happen. Always the way. I brought them all in for a check over but mostly to figure out what was up with the Duo as they weren't gaining weight properly.

Deer in headlights Sparky

Flash bearing some food on his nose

Vet news for those two, Sparky and Flash is not great. In two weeks I've had these two kittens they may have only gained 10 grams between them. They're as I said either plateau or running backwards. Neither has stepped over 525 grams and they SHOULD be 600 grams or more. Nearly all the Quads exceed them in weight.

Verdict for these two spirited kittens is grim. They either gain weight or they face the needle. The vet didn't seem to think they had any form of infectious illness but rather they were just displaying symptoms of failure to thrive.

I'm pulling out all the stops I can to get these little guys up and moving in the right direction before that deadline. Extra prayers and fingers crossed may help these guys along.

They have been bathed, flead, wormed again and are on a short period of bowel stabilizer medication to help them feel and digest better.

Sparky looking mighty impressed

Stunned looking Flash

I've worked over a few days to get a group picture of the Quads. Hasn't really worked yet and I can only seem to get them when they're tired. Here are a few of the shots.

Pip please look up

Squeak you're blocking Rebel

Well...the girls are doing alright...but it was too much for Jet

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The Ferals Update

Itchy has found a home. Unfortunately I never did get any pictures of the little fluff ball at the shelter before he went. So glad he has a new home for Christmas and he's probably already doing cute and crazy things with people that will hopefully love him forever.

Marley (Now Sadie) had adopted 3 kittens and was nursing/looking after them but recently a staff member went in and found two of them dead and one struggling. The struggling one is now being hand reared and is amazingly doing well. (Quite a feat considering the kitten was abandoned, found, adopted by another cat, sent to the vet for euthanasia, given another chance and is now thriving being bottle fed....)

Pretty Marley back in the sales on the jungle gym

Marley is back in the sale rooms with the kittens. I think she understands these kittens are big enough to fend for themselves and thus hisses when they get too close.

I visited Prissy, Scratchy and Hidey (along with other kittens) and was present when little Prissy was picked for her new home. Yay I'm so happy.

Friendly little Prissy has secured herself a human

So Marley, Scratchy and Hidey are all still waiting their Christmas homes

Scratchy is getting to be a big boy

Hidey's little orange foot and brow make her stand out

Marley deciding to be quite photogenic

 as are some of these little cuties....

Unnamed kitten

Willow the friendly little black kitten that Hidey was
partial to when first introduced

Pretty little girl friendly also

Take me home please

Wishes and Prayers that the Duo bounce back and become healthy happy kittens over the next week and begin stacking on proper weight.

Wishes and Prayers that my previous fosters Scratchy, Hidey and Marley all find wonderful families to live out their lives with.

Wishes and Prayers kittens at the shelter and in shelters all over the world find their forever homes in the days and weeks to come.

Just a few of the kittens available

And lastly Wishes and Prayers that everyone who stumbles across this little blog has a very Merry Christmas.

Say Cheese Flash.....good boy

Odd Kitten Behavior

I didn't think I'd get through this year with an 'easy' lot

Kittens that stack on grams and are healthy and happy just haven't turned up this year.

Monday morning I fed the kittens before work and they were fine. When I got home my mother said there was some 'spilled milk' in the cage. I'd removed the milk bowl earlier so there couldn't have been. I went in to check and sure enough there was a puddle of milk, vomit however.

The Quads had vomited before but then were behaving like idiots so I figured that someone had overfed and then went crazy before going 'Oh I'm not feeling so good....hurk'

I noticed Pip was sitting on Rebel and that Rebel appeared to be stuck with her head in against the litter tray and the side of the cage. I assumed she'd got her leg caught or one of her sharp darn claws stuck in the cage or something so I moved her to the center and she face planted the floor of the cage.

Rebel being bright and happy before weird behavior

She staggered a few steps but never lifted her face off the floor of the cage.

The only way I could describe what I was seeing was that Rebel's head was too heavy for her to lift. I immediately brought her out and showed her to my mother and it was obvious something was severely wrong. I called the shelter manager who at first advised to wait it out I was going to try but when Rebel didn't even seem to have the ability to swallow food (milk) then I called the shelter manager back and inquired if I could get the pitiful kitten into the vets.

Rebel cried out every time she was shifted and would stumble against the edges of the dome bed until her head was pressed up against a wall.

At the vets they took her into the back room and I was waiting for the whole 'she has something bad we cant save her' talk. Amazingly the vet called me into a room and said that since she was so little it was hard to pin down any specific cause of her odd behavior and all I could do was keep her warm and offer food and water. He told me to skip out any force feeding or any milk.

Over the afternoon Rebel began coming around, she could lift her head, she would wobble out of the dome bed to snuggle on someone and she began eating AD (weight booster) off a teaspoon. The kitten food consistency was chunky so I went for the smoother consistency AD.

I separated her from her siblings and kept her with a hot water bottle over night. She was eating, drinking and moving around nearly 100% better, if a little wobbly.

We still have no idea of the cause. She could have used all her resources up after vomiting so she had no energy to lift her head, she could have been climbing the side of the cage and fallen landing on the litter tray edge or who knows. It's a mystery. Pretty sure neurological problems are ruled out because she's fine now.

The Duo...

Troublesome Duo

Cant have one with odd problems without the other having some too. Sparky and Flash are yo-yo-ing.

They aren't consistently rising in weights. It seems they either plateau and stay the exact same or they're going downwards. Sparky did vomit last night but so did some of the Quads and I'm putting that down to being out at the shelter vets from 12.00 to 2 in the afternoon with no food so they likely wolfed food down when I got them home and then got queasy.

Flash and Sparky 'should' be getting up near 600 grams but they're tottering around 500 grams or 520. They have been wormed recently and they're not due again yet. I'm pretty sure they still have a few fleas but I've never really heard of them making cats not eat. Their bowls are occasionally touched but never as spotless as when the Quads are done eating...

Since I've had them a week I was going to lift quarantine and let all 6 romp together for a bit but until they're all gaining better I cant...maybe by Christmas they'll be all going well.

As a pointer of what weight difference is going on Rebel who was sick has stacked on the grams and reached 520 this morning. Sparky is 515- ish and Flash seems to like 509 so the Quads are getting closer to overtaking the Duo who are supposed to be older....

Odd Odd Kittens. If anyone has suggestions to help these fussy little kittens eat or know of any causes to their yo-yo-ing feel free to comment below. I had Flash checked because of his weight drop and the vet checked his temp and heart and stuff and found nothing.

(darn kittens should speak English.....)

Hope everyone is prepared for the ever approaching Christmas and I'm hoping by then I have some much better photos of happy kitties.

Oh the cuteness

These groups will be the end of me....

All went for their vet check on Friday and the vet and staff manager were stunned at the amount of grams the kittens had put on within two days. Some had gone up by 90 grams. *happy grin*

The shelter manager directed me to find some powdered kitten milk formula (have to mix myself) as neither her nor the vet thought the whiskas brand from a local store would provide as many benefits as stuff made directly for small kittens.

All got a quick weigh and depending on how much Flash and his sister put on will be yes or no to whether they are returned on Tuesday for their first vaccination or if they will be waiting until Friday. Since the Quads are nowhere near 600g the vet said unless they're seeming sick they don't need to be brought in.


I witnessed the tiniest ever kittens I've seen so far. A mother had given birth to some kittens possibly only a day ago I swear they weren't much bigger than my thumb. I had to pick up a tiny weeny kitten and put it back on the bed with the others as it had fallen out. The poor bitty thing was ice cold. The mother was hiding behind her litter tray and was away from her kittens so I am not sure how those little guys fared.

On a better note, guess who else I saw while I was out at the shelter?

Prissy and Itchy made it into the local paper and hopefully they're being scooped up right about now. They have grown so much since I put the tiny fluff balls in there just over a week ago.

Prissy getting cuddles from Mum

I worried that Prissy would regress and begin hiding and hissing at anyone who dared touch her. I am pleased to say she is now a well balanced and affectionate little girl. To the point she clambers over the big kitten frame they have in the center of the room and if you're standing close enough she'll step onto your shoulders and purr in your ears. Amazing change.

Prissy whispering purrs in my ear

Prissy perching on my shoulder

Itchy had become a bit more aloof, he was more interested doing his own stuff and interacting with the other kittens than coming over to say hi. Thus I never managed to get a good shot of him.

Itchy being ignorant (and taking a swipe at mums leg)

Scratchy had been nervous when he was first placed in the room has also calmed down and is quite content, he didn't particularly scout out attention but was happy to be patted.

Scratchy looking thoughtful

Hidey was all look-at-me perching on top of the jungle gym and wandering down it seeking pats of her own. She seems to have grown quite fond of a black kitten that's also in the room.

Hidey coming down off the Jungle Gym to say Hi

Speaking of other kittens there's quite a variety of tabbies in the room and none are suffering any forms of shyness. The little fur balls tend to gang up instead and take a leg each trying to tackle any human down. It shouldn't be long before a person succumbs to such adorable, if a little painful, tactics.


The Quads got their bath.
Truthfully, I felt no flea dirt or saw any sign of fleas but they were a bit bedraggled looking from getting milk  and food everywhere so they got done.

Here are the pictures. Apologies for the blurry ones.

Rebel trying to escape

Jet looking a bit soaked

Pip actually being agreeable with camera

Squeak with massive ears

Squeak after semi drying, still big ears 

On an amazing note to mention size, these guys were dried with a hand towel...gee they're tiny.

Once they were washed they had a snooze with my mother and I.

Squeak all fluffed up snoozing away

Rebel named for her defensiveness is now one of the lower kittens getting picked on by Pip the new dominant kitten. Squeak although tiny often gives as good as she gets.

Flash is by far my father's favorite  Dad always loves a kitten with a bit of spunk. Little Flash is full of it. If he's on his back and you wiggle a finger at him he flails his little legs. If you tickle his tummy and he cant get you he lets out a little war cry as if saying 'heey stop it!' Much too adorable.

Who me? I'm too cute to be cheeky

Finally Flash's sister has a name. She hasn't made peep since she got a hot water bottle so I'm assuming her screaming was only because she was cold. Her new name, thanks to my mother, is Sparky.

I hopes my eventual family name me better

Flash and Sparky are going to be going on the adventure of the sink again as flea dirt is still rampant and I managed to chase down another parasite...when these guys are flea free I'll be setting up a pen on the ground so they can run their little hearts out.

Bath? Whats a bath? ~ Flash

PS - the small cage the Duo had in the beginning was much too cramped and water was going everywhere when they'd get the 'crazies' They upgraded to a bigger cage and are absolutely loving it. I'm loving the fact they're not spreading water absolutely everywhere....teaching them to not walk through their food is still a lesson in progress....

PPS - I attempted to get a group picture of the quads.

Really Rebel tongue in and get off Pip

The best result. Squeak please look up...

I guess I'll work on that. Here's a challenge of sorts while I attempt to get kittens to sit pretty.

Probably easy but can you tell who is who?

The Duo & The Quads

I need to get more creative with last names for the groups as well as with names.

Unfortunately everyone doesn't necessarily agree with the names I give them and I prefer if they're already got one when I take them on but since they had nothing I cant continue calling them torti one to four or 'the black one' so they'll have to put up with whatever I give them *cheesy grin*

Alas we shall begin talking about the Duo.

Introducing the Duo

I admit I do need some help, one of the Duo is still nameless and its not for lack of trying but nothings sticking. She is a noisy little thing and for awhile we were going to call her Siron because she sounds like a car alarm when she decides to really announce her displeasure. I've waded through numerous names that mean noisy but nothing is feminine or suits....any help will be appreciated.

Please help name me....

I take no responsibility for the little tux's name. My brother called him Flash after a stuffed toy he got as a child. He was one of the first named and I should begin to warn my family that what they suggest I'll likely swing with just so they're not known as A, B, C, D...

Flash not too sure of the camera

So now they're semi - introduced. Theses little guys I have no history on they turned up the day before I brought back Scratchy and Hidey and weren't eating or gaining as well as they should. A kitten that's 500 grams is alright to stay in quarantine lower than that and they need more specialized care.

In the perfect world even the 500 gram kittens would be sent out for foster care but there isn't enough carers so its a bit like triage, those that can survive well enough remain and those in the greatest need get some care.

So these guys are 400 nearing 500 grams. They are being encouraged to eat wet food - which they're doing quite well. Since they were screaming quite a bit I brought them out and cuddled them for a bit - they promptly fell asleep on my lap, or more to the fact under my laptop. While I was tickling Flash's belly and getting a few bunny kicks I noticed a dark little dot moving around his belly on the white.

oh boy...fleas

Upon closer investigation there were too many to hunt down and kill plus knowing he was infested I then knew his sister was infested and finding the little brown bugs in her mottled coat would be near impossible therefore bath time was scheduled for the next day.

After work I set up the kittens for washing. Sister got done first and thankfully she didn't protest too hard. Flash got done second. Unfortunately no pictures were taken as I washed them by myself. When I was  drying them I noticed some fleas still, some not moving too well but as they dried off some were zipping through the fur seemingly not affected by the flea treatment. Numerous were chased down and squished despite kitten protests.

Another bath may be in the near future.

The Quads

Oh what a cute little lot these guys are. I first met them cowering behind their litter tray with some serious spitting at if they were so much as looked at.

First lets meet them (apologies in advance for the names)

This is Rebel the most outgoing and defensive kitten.

Rebel shortest haired of the three torti girls

It originally took quite a bit to pick her up as she'd growl, hiss and spit at anyone who so much as looked at her let alone reached in to pick her up. She has the best weight of the group being a bit over 400 grams.

Since they get milk at regular intervals I use this as a method to associate me with good things. I don't want them relying on milk as they are of age to be eating wet food but they are underweight some by more than others. Already Rebel is dropping the defensive act and actually purring when I go in *Yay*

Second is Jet the only boy in the group.

Cute little fuzz ball this dude

Yes original naming is coming through again. This little guy is a bit hissy at times but mostly timid. He hasn't shown too much personality yet. He's nearing 400 grams.

I have a minor dilemma. Two of this group look near identical. I can only tell them apart by weights and personality at the present.....

Meet Pip.

This worried little girl is NOT photogenic,
took ages to get just this shot

She's a feisty little thing mostly with tackling her sisters and brother and I haven't had any problem handling her. She latches onto the syringe with milk extremely well. She's roughly same weight as Jet.

Then there is adorable little Squeak.

Squeak decided to 'perch' her fuzz hides how little she is.

She talked to me in her carrier the whole way home. I nicknamed her Peeps but that was shot down and since she looks like a near twin they became Pip and Squeak. Squeak is by far the tiniest being not even 350 grams yet. She is however on her way there.

Squeak's personality is absolutely adorable. She was the first to purr, she clings to you and climbs up you to rub around under your chin. Every time I go in she's first towards the gate with her orange ringed big peepers staring at me and squeaking at me. Fingers crossed her weight picks up and she becomes level with her siblings...its heartbreaking feeling bones.

'I wants cuddles' Squeak

So you've met the little groups, names for Flash's sister are going to be Oh-so-welcome. I shall update again soon.