Golden Gates

Well I remember saying it looked like Ruby and Ranga had stopped sneezing over Thursday and Friday, I don't know what it is about weekends but they decided to get progressively worse until early Monday on a public holiday I rang the shelter manager and broke the news that at least 3 kittens would not be passing vet check on Tuesday.

Rest In Peace Little Guys

Sunday night when I went to bathe Ranga's eye and put drops in. Thankfully I knew it was the right eye but by then the left was looking quite icky as well. The right eye had pink discharge and after bathing there appeared to be a bit of blood visible in the eye but where from I didn't know.

Ruby had taken to sneezing quite hard, she was stuffy in the nose and goopy in the eyes. Thankfully she never looked as bad as Amber had. Amber had gone on food strike so she was horridly thin. The vet looked at them and shook her head.

Rose was a challenge. I'd been given the no-go from my parents to bring any of the ill litter back home. The flu being ongoing for so long they were worried about the resident cats and the other healthy foster kittens. I understood this and truthfully I didn't want to raise hope of her getting away flu free only to have that hope shattered. I am utterly sick of hearing kittens sneeze.

Since Rose wasn't showing signs and hadn't sneezed a lot, if at all, the vet got the okay from the shelter manager to give her one last chance and place her in isolation room to be watched. I am glad she's been given a chance. Rose is over 1 kilo I have my fingers crossed that she can pull through and be the single kitten of her litter that passes sales check.

Lucky Rose given another Chance

Squeak of course was well and truly ready to return. She was over 900 grams and healthy. Squeak passed sales check easily and was put in the adoption rooms where she was reunited with her siblings. Pip, Jet, Rebel and Sparky are all still there. The reception Squeak received from her siblings wasn't a welcome with open arms, just a sniff and some hissing. She did seem a bit overwhelmed but I'm sure given a few hours the ball of fur will be clambering about and causing trouble.

Such a poser then

Grew up into such a beauty, Bye Squeak

Smokey *finally* got his first injection. I'm not sure if he's going to hate me when he gets no chicken tonight. The last few times I've given it to him in his bowl and he smells it and goes nuts. Swiping through the bars, meowing like he wasn't fed in weeks and heedless that his cage is off the ground so when the door opens he goes splat on the ground. No he's never hurt and he doesn't seem not notice the drop (does it every time) then he's off meowing and if I'm not quick he's up my leg using me as a climbing frame....I'll be quite happy not to feed chicken tonight...

I became a big boy today ~ Smokey

Buster is over 450 grams. His siblings were apparently in the 600 to 700 range so he's got a ways to go before he's not skinny. The shelter manager and staff couldn't get over the change in him. Last Friday he'd been lethargic and cold and now he's bright and a bit fatter.

Buster looking brighter and a LOT cleaner

So two kittens from the pretty regular revolving door of having 8 kittens. I'm quite glad only having two and it seems either kitten season is slowing or we're on the verge of a flu problem that could wipe out the young and the elderly quite quickly.

I spent the entire afternoon moving everything out of the foster room, scrubbing walls, vacuuming floor, spraying everything with disinfectant sprays. Smokey and Buster enjoyed some time out in the playpen in the lounge room and I'm pretty sure they'll make good roomies.

I want cuddles ~ Smokey

Apologies that most of the pictures I put up have been used before. I never managed to get epic pictures of Ranga and Ruby by the time I even thought of having a photo shoot day they were in no condition to pose or look pretty.

I shall leave you wanting to tickle Buster's belly....

Say What Lady? ~ Buster

Hectic!

I was prompted to write a blog post by none other than my little sister. I thought I'd better get on with it considering her and reading...well it has to be good to keep her interest.

So in the process of trying to write this blog I've had to attend the needs of the new kitten and rush another foster kitten off to the vet. Today has been one of those days.

I'll begin at the beginning.

Since last vet visit where none of the kittens graduated to adoption and I returned home with them all Ranga and Ruby began sneezing late Tuesday night and onto Wednesday. Rose however showed no signs and was eating like a regular little horse. I was sure this Friday two more kittens might be going to sleep.

Nice pic of the twins, Ranga being unsociable

Smokey was hovering still and being a regular pain trying to get him to gain weight at all. I found his secret. That little ball of fur will do anything to get to chicken. Swipe you with claws, bite your fingers if they so much as smell like chicken and even launch himself off things at you and climb towards your hands meowing the whole time. It has been painful - ouch claws and teeth - but rewarding to supplement what he's already eating with some chicken.

Did you mention chicken? ~ Smokey

Squeak terrorizes little Smokey as she's not got the whole room to roam. With all these cat flu scares they've been secluded to their medium sized cage. Thus since she's shown no signs I bring her into the lounge and let her chase a feather wand. Well a feather wand that did have red feathers and little sparkly tinsel streamer type things but is now featherless and only has 3 strands of sparkly tinsel left on it (eyes Terra and Leo). She bounds around after those few strands of tinsel and I work off some of her extra energy.

Play time yet? ~ Squeak

Thursday morning before work I found Ranga with his eye stuck shut. My first thought was oh no flu! My second thought was it only affected his right eye. I bathed it and he could open it. Ruby and Ranga had stopped sneezing so I began to hope that maybe their early vaccinations and separation from the actual infected kittens has helped them avoid the worst of it. They also began gaining again, more on Ruby's end as she had her vaccination and then hovered around the high 600's. She's since broken the 700's and is heading upwards which is another sign that they're doing OK.

I ain't feeling so good ~ Ranga

Friday got them all packed up and ready, drove out to the shelter only to find vet day had been cancelled. I was bummed. Fortunately I needed to pick up stock - and ended up taking on another kitten.

Originally Rose - Who is over 1 kilo - and Squeak who is a decent and into-everything 850 grams were going to stay at the shelter and get passed on Tuesday. So I would have been going home with icky eyed Ranga, Smokey and Ruby. I saw how many kittens were in quarantine and asked if it would be OK to just take the entire group home for the next four or so days.

I didn't want them getting sick after all I've done to keep them healthy. I didn't want to burden the shelter staff with two more cages to clean. I also couldn't stand the idea of Squeak or Rose being in cages half or less than what they've had for the past weeks/months they've been with me. And really I already had 3 to clean up and feed what were two more? So I returned home with six.

I mean who can resist this face?
She's grown into such a pretty girl

So...We're staying? ~ Rose

Six? You think I can't count, right? I did mention I'd picked up another one when I thought two were going to stay...

Meet Buster Blues. I take no responsibility for his name. The shelter manager mentioned calling him Blue off handed and my mother mentioned Buster. Saves me from naming him.

Grotty little boy after I picked him up (food build up on nose)

Apparently his sibling was found this morning ice cold. Unfortunately he didn't make it. At the time his sibling was found Buster was fine but a staff member noticed he was lethargic and cold so they thought he might be heading the same direction as his sibling. While I was organizing supplies for my hungry little kittens Buster was being passed around and held against people to keep him warm.

Such a hard life being passed around to sleep on people...

So I now have a needy, scrawny but adorable little guy to hopefully stack some grams on.

In the process of trying to write this I've been syringing milk into said pipsqueak and went in to get photos of Ranga. Well his eye was still icky and inflamed and he 'needed' to see a vet. I wanted to know whether it was flu - which I now doubted - or a serious scratch. From experiences with Terra getting too full of herself with Leo I knew eye scratches could be pretty bad and Terra's had never looked as bad as his did.

My eye hurts... ~ Ranga

So dropping everything I got the okay to get him to a vet. Last thing I wanted to do was leave it and for him to get worse over the weekend. Being a long weekend the penalty rates of a weekend or even Monday visit would cost the shelter a small fortune.

Thankfully Ranga's eye was checked out to be badly inflamed but no ulcers could be found on it. He's got some drops to have, lucky kitty.

So between juggling meds, letting Squeak out for runs, feeding Smokey chicken, syringe feeding Buster and generally cleaning these little guys up I'm going to be one busy little person.

Forgive me sister if I'm a bit slow with updates.

Rest In Peace

Sad days at legends of the fur balls.

Amber and Violet made the journey across the rainbow bridge and out of their virus riddled bodies. I stopped taking pictures when it became quite clear that Amber's nose wasn't going to get less snotty looking and she wasn't going to look less thin. She was far from healthy looking.

Rest In Peace Amber & Violet

The longer they stayed in the room sneezing, the longer I cleaned them then cleaned the other two cages it was increasing the risk of spreading what they had to the others.

It is unknown if when I began fostering this group, Amber already had the virus or due to her frail body at the time she contracted it soon after coming home with me. She had a turn around and gained a whole bunch of weight then after her vaccination she went nowhere but down. Her highest point was around 630 grams...she toppled down to 475 grams in a matter of days.

It came to the point it was cruel to keep her alive. She couldn't breathe and she had chronic diarrhea. A cat or kitten relies on its sense of smell to tell if something is edible, with this clogged up she couldn't eat and even with me attempting to syringe feed her it just wasn't working out.

Violet. Poor Violet was wrong place wrong time. She got put in with Amber to gain weight since her much bigger weight siblings were bashing her up or shoving her out of the food line. When Amber's symptoms became a bit more serious Violet had been exposed long enough that moving her back with her siblings would risk them getting sick as well.

Violet didn't sneeze at first but in about three days began showing the signs that Amber had. Inconsistent weight, fussiness with food, sneezing. She appeared bright otherwise. When she began sneezing I became a clean freak. It meant what Amber had was contagious and therefore touching something of theirs and then moving to either of the other groups and touching theirs could leave some of the virus for the others to be exposed to.

So on Monday I made the decision that these two kittens needed to go. One to end Amber's suffering as it would only get worse and sacrificing Violet in effort to stop the spread and give the best possible outcome for my remaining five.

Violet was not vaccinated, she never reached the 600 gram mark. Amber was vaccinated and she looked horrible anyway. I would be absolutely horrified to imagine how much more severe the symptoms would have shown on Violet had I put off the inevitable.

Alas. It is done.

I take comfort that the kittens knew full tummies, knew cuddles, had room to run around in and most of all had someone to love them during the short time they were in this world. My heart breaks that I couldn't do more for them.

The deaths of kittens I foster is another reason I made this blog. To tell their story. To show people they are not just a statistic that got euthanize  They were a kitten, cat, dog, any animal that was a stray, surrendered, found, dumped....they found their way to the shelter where we tried our best to keep them healthy, happy and when the time came, a new home. Some animals are dealt a bad card from the beginning and despite best efforts just don't make it. That doesn't make them any less important.

I just returned from another shelter Vet check where I was hoping 3 kittens - Rose, Ranga and Squeak - would pass and join the sale rooms. Squeak decided she'd much rather stay with me and purposefully weighed 10 grams under weight. Rose and Ranga being past 800 but litter mates to Amber and Violet it was decided to give them another few days to watch for any signs of developing the same virus.

They have been separated from Amber for most of their time with me so I'm hoping since they're all vaccinated (Ruby included) that they all begin eating properly and pooping properly and can make the move out on Friday.

Squeak and Smokey. Smokey still hasn't made decided to become a big boy. He feels solid but he's not eating enough to make the 600 grams and get vaccinated. I can see I'll have this little pip squeak for quite awhile yet...such a hardship though with him being so darn cute.

Squeak. She should have moved out by now. She feels solid, she poops fine she just doesn't decide to eat all the time and therefore tip the scales upwards. She just hovers. Right on the brink of going back to the shelter then gets weighed there and she's under again so packs off back home with me. Anyone would think this little cutie doesn't want to leave.

Squeak, your siblings are waiting for you in sales! You can hang out in twice the space with kittens your own size! Please gain weight properly!

I shall return soon with new pictures of the remaining kittens but for today I thought I'd only put up pictures of Amber and Violet.

 The world missed out on some adorable kittens....

Pending...

Well, I took the kittens out for another check today. I think I mentioned Amber sneezing and I wanted to be sure it wasn't anything contagious or serious. More on that later.

Squeak is patiently playing mother hen to Smokey and allows him to suckle on her fur while giving people a look that just says 'well he insists'. She is just shy of 800 grams so hopefully on this coming Tuesday she'll graduate and be free from the little fur sucker.

Really? I'll be able to escape him? ~ Squeak

Smokey had some issues with runny poop. He'll be facing another course of worming in hopes he will pick up again. He does seem to be gaining again and he doesn't feel scrawny thin but he isn't eating or talking as much as he should be. If he stopped pointlessly sucking on Squeak he might have made 600 grams by now.

But sucking is comforting? ~ Smokey

Rose and Ranga have stepped up and reached 800 grams. Smack dab on the 800 so they're still with me until they can get a decent amount over it then they can go straight into sales and not worry about dropping back under.

Kissing kittens (were just finished milk)
*not sure if that's Rose or Ruby there

Ruby who should be well into the 700's is taking her sweet time to get anywhere. She is going up again but she's been a bit of a yo-yo and dropped soon after her vaccination. We shall see how she goes in the following days.

Ruby in the middle. Difficult kitten to get pictures of that one.

Now Violet 'should' be 600 grams and is the only one of her litter not yet vaccinated. She's rooming with Amber and is being slightly fussy on food. She is active bright looking and unlike her sister I've seen no sign of sneezing.

I still cannot get over how big their ears are....

Amber. Shakes head. Mystery kitten this one. Since her vaccination she's had the sneezes. There has been a bit of clear discharge from eyes and nose but she has her bouts of activeness and will sometimes eat if her face is mushed into food or milk. I do understand cats that don't smell don't eat. I would have thought it was serious if Violet had started showing signs too but nope.

Doesn't look too sick here does she?

I'm hesitant to say she's sneezing less. She has dropped a bit of weight but is hovering right on the 600 grams. The vet said to keep an eye on her and if she's still sneezing by the following Tuesday then maybe it will be safer for the majority to put her down.

They aren't sure if the vaccination batch has brought this on, if so then the sneezing should have cleared by Tuesday. If she's still sneezing then she may have caught something when she was horribly thin and its developing into something more serious. Sadly I'd much rather lose one than the whole lot.

We shall see how they go. I've had kittens face the needle before and even when I've given up all hope they've turned around and surprised not only me but a bunch of vets also (naming a few Rebel, Flash and Sparky and also Stella earlier this year).

The yo-yoing in weight that these kittens are doing seems to be happening a lot. Kittens are struggling to reach 600 grams and then struggling to reach 800 grams then when they hit 800 their weight problems seem to disappear.

It isn't just my own insanity apparently.

Many shelters this year are experiencing the same problems of kittens not gaining as they should but not showing any signs of illness'.

That was a blessing to hear I've been going insane wondering what I'm doing different to last year when I had batch after batch of cruisey kittens that came home with me, were active and playful, when food turned up they scoffed it down, when they were weighed they went up not down or level....

So until next Tuesday....


*****
Sale kittens Update

Flash is no longer in adoption. I'm unsure if he went home with a family or was one of the lucky 20 to be chosen to move on to another shelter that had less kittens. Safe journey little Blimp.

This kitten is one of the 'special' ones I wont forget...

Sparky, Pip, Jet and Rebel are all out in the sale rooms at the current shelter. They are entirely different from the teeny tiny scrawny, hissy little bundles I took home. The room is much less populated with 20 less kittens as are the rooms in Quarantine (spare cages whoop). If Squeak makes weight on Tuesday she'll be reunited with her siblings. *fingers crossed*

Not sure if I'll be having any more kittens. Depending on the verdict for the Meses and whether they're all considered at risk or only Amber who's sneezing I might have Ruby and Violet for a bit longer. Ranga and Rose if they pass check on Tuesday will be returning. Squeak will be returning. Smokey will be hanging with us awhile longer unless major issues arise and Amber...well it all depends on her immune system. I may be returning with 3 on Tuesday.

Wow three kittens....*fights off empty nesting feelings*

Leaving the Nest

Its once again been awhile since I've updated. Shame on me.

I currently have 7 kittens.

Last Friday Flash and Rebel returned and managed to make it straight out to the second sales room that is running crazy with kittens. Unfortunately Jet and Pip are still out the back waiting for a bit more room or they may even be chosen to be sent off to another nearby shelter that hasn't got as many little tackers.

So Long Little Blimp

So Long Rebel

I can already see the strains of kitten season appearing. No we don't have any bad outbreaks of illness and we aren't over capacity...yet.

Kitten season to me comes in stages.

The anticipation, everyone advertising their want or need for kittens (usually before Christmas) and of course then there is nothing in sight.

Then the dregs turn up. Slightly older kittens that weren't able to be homed and have passed the super tiny 'cute' stage.

Then we get hit with the first wave of kittens. This is all well and good that means kittens are coming up the ranks from quarantine, making weight and going up for sale.

A lull in sales often turns up after Christmas so not as many kittens move out as the next wave hits.

I don't think we've hit a tidal wave yet.When kittens exceed the number of places the shelter has room for.

I have noticed less adoptions. Maybe its just me, kittens usually walk out the door but advertising of free ones seems to have looped in more customers or something *scratches head*

So we're probably at the second wave. Its getting a bit crowded but its alright.

People seem to be getting 'over' the kitten madness. More kittens are adopted by serious planning than spur of the moment gift ideas, which is a good thing. If only there were enough homes for every single one.

As I was saying I have 7.

Sparky returned today. None too soon. She missed returning by 5 grams on Friday (5 grams!) which annoyed me just a little because miss Sparky is too intelligent for her own good.

Me? I'm not Trouble ~ Sparky

Thankfully it was only late Sunday that she figured out she could scale the half door board we have to close the study (aka foster room) off from the resident cats. It became very annoying and quite common to hear the scrabbling of little claws and the soft thud of a kitten landing on the lino...

She had the WHOLE room to run around in, hidey hole galore, scratching posts, toys, the ability to scale the cages and run along the tops, the window sills....but she chose to climb the board into new territory several times until she became limited to the four walls of her cage.

You reject what you were given kitty then you pay the consequences...time out.

Sparky has new digs in a cage beside Pip and Jet back in quarantine until she too can join the craziness out in sales.

So that's all the kittens that have left, and No, no new ones have arrived....yet

Squeak is rapidly getting to 750 grams and I have my fingers crossed that she'll be returning on Friday this week.

This little girl is a mystery. When I had her in the cage to bring her home that first day, probably a month ago now, she was at the front yelling and screaming at me in a high pitched squeak (thus got her name)

Now....She opens her mouth and nothing comes out.

Little Miss Squeak has lost her squeak. I keep telling her she was supposed to be quiet to begin with and get louder not the other way around....

I may not squeak anymore but I sure could out purr other kitties ~ Squeak

Smokey makes up for her lack of meow with his own. Poor little boy is having some bowel issues and not sure of the cause. He's not dramatically losing weight, he's still eating so I'm not too worried. Hopefully he's at the 'hump' and will begin eating like a little horse in the days to come...

Becoming a handsome fur ball...NOO your eyes are going green :(

Now. The Meses....or rather The Sneezy Meses.

Our big eared lanky little guys have a bit of the sniffles - and toiletry issues that haven't gone yet.

Amber was separated from her siblings being only 480 grams and barely more than bones. Within a day or so she was gaining weight again. She made 600 today so she was vaccinated. Amber has been sneezing. No icky eye discharge, no nose discharge, no mouth ulcers....just sneezing.

Ahh Can relax without being pounced on ~ Amber

She got a roomie in Violet when the little grey girl (dilute torti tabby?) began being bashed up too much and losing weight. She hasn't yet made 600 but that's the goal by Friday.

Violet (aka Mouse)

Massive eared kittens....

Rose is around 777 grams but even if she makes 800 I'm not sure if she'll stay or return with me. If she's sneezing still they'll probably give her back to me until it clears if she's alright her quarantine days aren't quite up so I'll possibly still have her until Tuesday at least....not sure.

Rose nearly 800 grams but still such big ears...

Ruby is actually purring. Before she'd get picked up and nearly claw the crap out of your hands trying to get away but I think she's made the connection that I mean food. She was vaccinated on Tuesday but is having some issues with gaining and dropped weight. I'm blaming the diarrhea.

Not photogenic are you Ruby?

Ranga is a feisty little chap. He was teeny tiny and I thought about putting him in with Amber and Violet but he can hold his own. The little guy weighed a massive 680 grams and got his vaccination today although he's like Flash was, all belly and scrawny short legs....only add massive ears to that as well.

I don't wanna pose today ~ Ranga

So, I'll be running back and forth to vet days to see if this sneezing develops into something more serious or if its just some small virus that will run its course in 10 days or so and clear up again. Reminds me of Henry and the Trio.

Only fingers crossed they're not here that long.

The joys of trying to keep Squeak and Smokey out of direct contact with theses guys. Fingers crossed they don't start sneezing too and it affects Squeaks' chances of staying on Friday....

Kitten Dimensions

My sister mentioned she couldn't quite get a proper read on how small the kittens are. Truth be told I often have the same problem as photos lie and make kittens appear much bigger than they actually are.

Alas we lined each kitten up beside a ruler to get a rough estimate of their size. The average is around 6 Inches tall but obviously kittens and sitting still don't go together unless they're sick.

So here we go

Squeak Front on
Roughly 6 Inches (7 including ears)

Squeak Side on
About 5 Inches in this picture but she's not standing upright

Flash front  (aprox 7 Inches)
Hey what's that? ~ Flash

Aprox 6 Inches Upright
What are you doing? ~ Flash

Sparky Front On (kitten moved ruler not directly beside)
Eh Did you have to wake me up for this? ~ Sparky

Back at about 6 Inches
Sparky Side on

Rebel trying to pass herself off as 4 Inches

Rebel Standing (Apologies for Blur)
Truth found she's about 6 1/2 Inches standing

Smokey being difficult (about 5 Inches sitting)

Eh I'm over this *eye rolls* ~ Smokey
Roughly 4 Inches in this picture lying down (wasn't cooperative at all)

 And The Colors (being nicknamed the Mese's because of their Siamese appearance)

Little Ranga (About 5 Inches sitting upright)

Little Ranga Side On (Ruler not straight)

Amber (4 and a bit Inches)

Amber Side On
 (Five-ish upright, Would be 6 including her massive ears)

Rose (7 Inches)

Rose again (6 Inches to the back)

Ruby (Bit over 5)

Ruby Again (4 when huddling)

Violet
(17 cm ruler upside down)

Violet Again
(At back would be 4 1/2 maybe)

I thought I'd introduce you to the new kittens properly but they too want nothing to do with posing or sitting still.

Meet Amber

Amber is the Calico with no dilution. Sadly she has been dropping weight and is little more than skin and bone at the present. I haven't seen her eating independently at all. I am hoping worming them will eradicate her of whatever the problem is but a vet check tomorrow will hopefully rule out any serious illness.

Meet Violet

Violet resembles a mouse. She has a narrow face, narrow body, massive ears and this spindly little tail. Thankfully she is eating but like her litter mates is suffering some serious bowel issues. It is early days and I expect a few days of growing accustomed to regular good food.

Meet Ruby

Ruby and Rose are near identical. Rose has orange going above both eyes where Ruby only has orange above one eye. Looking at them from behind I would have no idea who is who but usually Rose is just bigger in appearance than this little kitten. It wasn't until after they were named that I realized they'd been named after a celebrity.

How dare you call me names ~ Ranga

Thought it was quite funny with his massive ears pinned back in his swatting match with his sister Rose. Neither were cooperative for their own picture and from here on the kittens just wouldn't look the right way or I was too slow. Shall try for a group picture another day.

Ranga is about as small as Violet and Amber only a bit less bony. They are all sleek looking kittens and will probably be leggy thin things when they grow more. I find their coats quite fascinating though. Compared to Smokey who has thick fur these little ones seem to have barely any and their skin just feels different, thinner maybe. Likely why they seem to want the hot water bottle all the time.

Rose (Ruby's twin) may not be here for long. She's already fairly high in the 600's although she is dropping backwards a little. Fingers crossed those numbers go back up soon.

Attempt at group photo....FAIL