The Waverly folks took this lady to Stray Haven for a spay, but she gave birth to kittens before her date came up. They therefore came to stay with us, but not before mom and her older kitten caught an upper respiratory infection--entirely expectable in a shelter with scads of kittens in the isolation area. Green goo usual means "bacterial infection" and believe it or not, with the aid of a towel, mom let me treat her eye.
Her older kitten (no photo available yet) is the nastiest little buggers I've run into for a long time. He is the only surviving kitten from her previous litter, and I can see how he survivied! He also has an upper respiratory infection, and I'm hoping that baby food will tame his wild little soul. When I picked the family(s) up at Stray Haven, I wore my gloves out of respect for the shelter. But when the 8-week kitten lived up to their warning that "he really bounces around" I was glad I wore them. He chomped down hard through the towel and the gloves kept me safe. And that's why ,they cost a mint and are worth every dime. In my experience, the nastier a very young kitten is, the faster they tame up. Let's up this hold true for this fellow!
These little guys aren't biting anyone yet, but since they are so young, there is danger if they also have contracted their mom's infection:
So, once again there are kittens in the house. Hopefully, they'll do OK! They are on Floor One, entirely away from the adoptable cats. And I'll be taking more showers than a human ought to be exposed to, as usual when there are sniffles in the house.
I was very impressed that Stray Haven had at least three staff members working on a Sunday when the shelter is closed. In my personal experience, "Sunday at the shelter" often falls to one lone staff member. Kudos to Stray Haven for their extra help for their animals, and to their cruelty investigator who was on her way our for a call with the sheriff's department.
2 comments:
I hope Mom is able to deliver enough milk to feed her brood. We've been fostering a stray Mom and her five kits since June 10, and had to supplement her milk with bottle feeding for a few weeks.
Luckily, all five kits are weaned now, and they're all active and eating well, despite some snuffles and congestion. Unlike most of the orphaned kits we've fostered, this group hasn't had any gastrointestinal problems.
Mom (named Julia by our shelter) is a different story, and has been suffering from varying degrees of diarrhea for over a month, despite a variety of treatments, medications, I/D prescription food etc.
We're confident about the 5 kits, but have our fingers crossed about Mom (see http://50kittens.com for details).
Good luck with your queen and her kits!
I like your blog! I am a cat lover and one who has never turned down an animal in need. I like to read about other people helping animals so I will definitely keep an eye on your blog.
Post a Comment