Author: annagoebel
Five weeks today
Black Mamba’s kittens celebrated their fifth-week birthday by getting weighed and getting their eyes cleaned up and eye drops for their infected eyes. It’s pretty common for kittens to get crusty eyes from a virus, but these have a secondary infection that’s gluing their eyes shut, trapping a lot of pus inside. With warm salt-water and a soft cloth, I gradually soften the crustiness and get they eyes open. Then I apply a drop of antibiotic to each eye. Rinse, repeat. I will clean them up several times a day and apply the antibiotic morning and evening. They’re looking pretty homely, but they’re much cuter – and much happier – with both eyes open!
Third litter!
There was an urgent need for someone to foster another mom and kittens coming from the same farm as Hazel. It’s not a good situation – new farm owner who was threatening to shoot all the cats. So 9 Lives Rescue got permission to go in and remove as many as they could.
So we said we’d take one more mom and babies. The all-black mom is called Black Mamba, and she has two black kittens, two black with white paws and markings, and one calico. They’re set up in a “pop-up” in our daughter’s old room. Mom’s pretty thin, and the babies are a pretty scrawny lot, but they’ve landed in a better place now. Here’s a quick snapshot:
Three is going to be a lot, but at least these are already born! They were born on May 3, so they’re already five weeks old. I believe it, because they are walking well – strong on their legs – but they’re awfully little for 5 weeks.
Vet day
Everyone is back from the vet and doing well. Today Mouse and her kittens were spayed or neutered. It is remarkable how minimal the procedure is these days. Incisions are very small and recovery time is quick. They were happy to be home. The kittens pretty quickly assumed normal activities: lurking and pouncing on each other, battling bits of paper, and chasing anything that moved. In addition they had the carriers to play in, especially the soft-sided one that collapsed and made a great tunnel to play on and in.
Mouse was a bit more concerned, and kept talking to them and checking on them and licking them when they can within range. Normally their response is, “Oh, mom, don’t fuss,” but today they responded a little more warmly. I think they felt comforted – and it’s possible they were also comforting her.
They say keep the cat quiet, after spaying or neutering, but even the vets acknowledge the impossibility of keeping kittens quiet! We thought about confining them to the dog cage, but decided they’d get into more trouble if confined. Climbing up the sides is NOT the ideal activity.
Two of the kittens had been given neckbands with their names on. The three tabbies, and especially Thomas and April, are hard to tell apart, so those two got labelled. When they got home I took the labels off. Thomas thought his was a great prize and carried it off, and Pippa took April’s.
