Life in the Pumpkin Patch

Two weeks ago we lost Sunny, Rocky & Red. They were not thriving. Their mother wasn't eating. There was too much competition for what little milk she had to offer. She was too young of a Mother-not experienced and perhaps, didn't even care about her offspring after being dumped in a tiny cage at a kill shelter. One by one on September 17th, the three littlest passed away. They were cremated and their ashes are with their foster Mom, Maria.

One day their ashes will be mixed with all of Maria's other cats who passed away, then will be mixed with Maria's when her day comes. That's what I want for when I die, too, for my ashes to be mixed with my cat's ashes. We can be together one last time, unless there is some sort of afterlife and, if there is one, I hope I don't have litter pan duty in heaven for all the cats I've had during my life.

©2011 Maria S. Da boyz are back in town.

Our remaining boys, Jake O'Lantern, Mikey D. Cider and Teddy B. started to gain weight. Slowly, at first, their mama, Bobette, started to eat. Now that she was gaining weight-a pound in a few days, she could provide for her boys. She kept moving them out of their soft bed, to the tile floor by the toilet. Maria, concerned about them being too cold kept moving them back. She wondered if Bobette was acting more protective of her babies and wanted them close by. She seemed to understand three were gone and she seemed more interested in keeping the remaining kittens alive.

©2011 Maria S. Bobette feeding Jakey.

Every day Maria and I worried. Would we still lose more kittens? Would they get that dreaded “bug” that comes out of the shelter? I recalled Cara and Polly, sick for more than six months. They were a few weeks old when they first got sick. These kittens were barely a week old.

©2011 Maria S. Observing the belly.

I got emails from Maria, worried. She'd see Bobette or the kittens start to get runny eyes. I took a deep breath and prayed we didn't just make a big mistake thinking I could rescue this family-that the kittens would die, not from malnutrition, but from an upper respiratory that they were too little to combat.

©2011 Maria S. Squee!

Mama was on clavamox. The babies were getting trace amounts of it in her milk, but we were also giving them homeopathic treatments and in a day we'd see them recover completely. Now that Bobette is off clavamox, we still treat with remedies. The kittens have gotten runny eyes again-and again after treatment, it went away. We do NOT know if we're out of the woods-and if the kittens will not get sick. It seems like too much to ask that they not get a URI, but so far, they are doing all right.

©2011 Maria S. Oh Jakey, you had me at meow!

They're starting to look like cats, instead of hamsters. Their ears are beginning to appear and their eyes are open. They all wobble-walk. Bobette makes sure they are clean. Maria bought a stuffed cube for the kittens to live in and Bobette likes it enough so she no longer moves the kittens onto the cold floor (which has a soft towel on it now, just in case).

©2011 Maria S. Little Mikey will steal your heart! Beware!

Slowly, but surely, the kittens are gaining weight. Every time Maria weighs them they've all gained about the same amount. They're up to 10 ounces now-from their dreary start at only 4 ounces, this is great progress.

©2011 Maria S. Teddy! What a face!

Our little pumpkin patch is growing. We hope the trend continues and they blossom into nice, big orange kittens as the days pass. For now, they're well fed, warm and comfortable. The pain of losing their siblings is still there, but the joy we feel in seeing the others survive softens the pain a little bit.

©2011 Maria S. Bobette is in good hands, literally and figuratively.

Perhaps it's ok to just marvel in their tiny paws and round bellies, to smile simply because they are alive and everything in this moment is just fine. We can't know what the future will bring, but today, the little pumpkins are, knock wood, doing well.

©2011 Maria S. Jake=Belly Boy.

Maria could really use a good baby scale so she can continue to monitor the kitten's weight. If anyone would like to donate one, please contact me directly at info(at)coveredincathair.com Your donation is tax deductible.

©2011 Maria S. Life outside "the CUBE."

©2011 Maria S. A kiss for my brudder.

Thank you to everyone who donated towards their care. Our ChipIn widget didn't make its' goal yet, so if you can help them, the ChipIn is called, Bob's Angels and it's to the right sidebar, on the top of this page. The kittens will need more vet care as they age and a lot of food when they're ready, so it's important that we have the funds ready to go when they are, so do what you can. Thank you very much.

©2011 Maria S. Awww...little “pumpkin” Jake.