Too Many Kittens

I have so many cats in my house!

Well, its only been half a week since we got the new babies but so far so good. Wednesday I noticed some of them sneezing and by Thursday morning there was a choir of tiny sneezing kittens. Luckily, it wasn't anything the vets could not take care of! Since mom and the babies had been there only two days before, the vets were able to just make up some medicine and I went and picked it up. Everyone is getting doxycycline once a day as well as steam treatments whenever Mike or I shower. The nice part about having the kittens in the bathroom is that we can use the steam from the shower to break up their congestion, just like you would if you were sick, with a vaporizer in the room or even a hot shower for yourself. The down side is that with a radiator in the bathroom (yes, my building's radiators are STILL on) and a hot shower the room gets REALLY warm. Since you are really supposed to keep kittens out of a chill breeze, and it is definitely chilly the last few days, I have had to keep the bathroom window almost entirely closed. The bathroom is a sauna. Good for kittens, not so great when I want to do my makeup or brush my teeth!

Mom is starting to open up to me more. The first couple days she was very quiet but now she meows or coos at me when I enter the room. She has learned what the can of food looks like and the sound it makes when it opens and she has a great appetite. She is extremely skinny so we are feeding her as much as we can to try and put some meat on her bones, and also so that she will be able to continue producing milk for the babies. I have started calling her "mama bones" because she is just skin and bones. The other kittens have not really earned nicknames except for the orange one who we call "Guinea Pig" and the buff tabby who we call "Hampster" because that is what they look like. The others are going by their shelter names for now, but their personalities will be developing every day so I look forward to watching that.

Mama bones

Snurfle went in for her last check-up on Wednesday. The vets finally cleared her, saying that she was healthy enough to be adopted and that her eye and nose issues are just something that is going to need on-going care. I was really worried that people would look at her condition as a negative. Being that she is only six months old, and is going to need more frequent vet care than other cats at the shelter, I was worried that she would not get adopted as quickly as other kittens. I was so wrong. She went up to the adoption center on Thursday and a co-worker texted me Thursday night to say that she had been adopted! I am the happiest foster mom ever, and my little Snurfle has a new home and a new adventure. I miss her but I am very happy for her.

Guinea Pig

Tomorrow I bring Navi and Zora in to get surgery and then they will go to the adoption center also. When that happens all of the fosters in the house will be in one place - the bathroom. Its been nice having Snurfle, Zora, and Navi out playing with my cats. Its good for the kittens to experience more of the house and the other cats, and I think my cats enjoy the kittens at least sometimes. Godzilla loves the kittens for sure, he has really been missing Snurfle lately and I feel bad for him.

Well, that is it for this week. Everyone is gaining weight or staying steady, but since they are sick we are not out of the woods completely with these guys. By Tuesday if everyone is still doing good I will feel a lot better because that will be our one week mark. Usually anything that is going to go wrong will happen within the first week. I just have to keep up with them for now!