Bit of a morbid question to ask, but have you ever lost a kitten in your years of fostering pregnant mommas and bottle babies?
Though I have been extremely lucky so far, I have lost some kittens – and an adult. In the very first litter I fostered, the mother – Mia – had to be euthanized because she was very very ill. To be honest, I’m amazed that we continued fostering after that, but we certainly did.
In 2009, soon after we lost our permanent resident Mister Boogers (who was the BEST), I decided somehow that fostering a litter of 4 newborn kittens who’d had no time at all with their mother was a good idea. They were in pretty rough shape when we got them, but we thought we were going to be able to help them pull through. Long story short… they died, one by one. (You can read the entry about them here, but it’s a really sad one.) I came very close to giving up fostering after that, but obviously didn’t.
In 2017, we lost a 1 day old kitten – Kepler – from Mercury’s Missions. After that we took and lost Skylab, who needed a mama (but was too far gone by the time we got her) and then Sigma (who was also in pretty rough shape by the time we tried to introduce her to Mercury.)
And last, but certainly not least, we took Anne back in 2020, to add to the Mewsketeers litter. Anne was absolutely skin and bones when we got her, and despite our efforts, she didn’t pull through.
So of the 464 cats/kittens we’ve fostered (that includes the Sprouts), we’ve lost 9. Obviously the number I’d prefer would be zero, but so many other fosterers have lost a much larger number than that, and I know how lucky we’ve been.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To give an update on the question I asked a few weeks ago about Hildy peeing on the floor: We bought all new litter boxes and that has helped immensely. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the person who suggested that!! We also tried corn cob litter in one of the new boxes and she seems to like it much better than the pine pellets we normally use. One of the spots she liked to pee in was right next to an air vent, so we replaced the vent, and since then, she hasn’t peed there. She’s still peeing on the floor occasionally, but the situation is much, much better than it was. My next step is to get a Feliway diffuser for the area where her favorite litter box lives.
Thanks again to everybody who gave advice a few weeks ago!!
That’s great news – thanks for the update, Caroline!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It looks like Kudzu’s gray is getting darker. Is it?
I don’t think so, it looks about the same shade to me. Here are a couple of pictures of him for comparison.
10 days old.
6 weeks old.
Sometimes his coloring may look a bit different depending on the lighting when I took the picture; the light in that room isn’t the greatest unless it’s a sunny day (we are having VERY FEW sunny days lately), so he may look darker in some pictures than others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mimosa took a moment to herself atop the cabinet, and Bramble was all “Mama, Mama, Mama, come back!”
“We miss you, Mama!” wailed Kudzu.
“Y’all need to calm down,” said Mimosa.
“But I can’t get to the milk bar!” complained Kudzu.
“Exactly right,” said Mimosa.
“Watchin’ you, lady.”
“Mama said we needs to keep an eye on you,” said Kudzu.
Bramble and Hollyhock, taking in some sun.
Mondo, havin’ a think.
Clover, havin’ a bath.
Hollyhock sure likes the sunshine.
As I predicted yesterday, Mimosa is in heat. And the foster room is located about 20 steps from my bedroom, so you can imagine my joy.
Most of the time I have sympathy for poor Mimosa, who just wants to do what nature intends. But her yowl is so ear-piercing that at one point yesterday I threatened to sell her to anyone who’d give me a nickel and an old shoe. (I don’t know, it made sense at the time.) On the up side, the first heat cycle after kittens tends to be relatively mild and only lasts a couple of days, so it could be worse. Her spay surgery is scheduled for April 25th, and while I suppose she COULD sneak in another heat cycle before then, I’m hoping we’re going to be one-and-done.
It always blows me away how soon after giving birth cats go back into heat. Her kittens are 6 weeks old! If she were in the wild (or perhaps in her previous home), she’d likely be giving birth again in two months.
Way harsh, Mother Nature.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Magnificent Khal shows off his fearsome fangs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr) yesterday.
“Lady, this one makes a good foot rest.” I love how Kudzu is holding his paw up to hers like he’s comparing sizes.
Throw Back Thursday: Tricki, from 2015 will always be one of my favorites. She was a bit skittish when we first got her, but once she relaxed she was the sweetest, goofiest girl. And gorgeous – I still use this picture of her as my desktop wallpaper. ❤️
YouTube link
Throw Back Thursday: Caroline (Ma to the Half Pints, 2019) giving the vacuum cleaner the ol’ smackeroo. I love that big lunk Charles (Pa to the Half Pints) is keeping his distance while tiny Caroline is just smacking away. Fierce girl!
Throw Back Thursday: Gilbert, one of the Cheez Doodles from 2014. This is one of the first pictures I got of him, and he was already running over to me, screaming for love. (The fact that the picture is blurry just adds to the charm, I think.)
YouTube link
Random moments of cute: No one’s confessing to being Da BAYbee, everyone’s sleepy, and then Mondo and Kudzu are goobers. In other words, the usual.
Hollyhock finds this the best way to play with the track toy – balance on top, and reach down to smack at the balls!
Good night innernets. (Bramble)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously
2021: There are 5 kittens in that bed, and I suspect Fizzbin would have fit in there just fine.
2020: Isabella, considering her life choices.
2019: “HI, Pa!”
2018: No entry.
2017: So many kicks to the face. Poor Nola.
2016: Chanandler Bong and Art Vandelay have a snuggle.
2015: Roseanne’s head really isn’t 6x the size of Louis’ head, even though it appears so.
2014: I don’t know if he actually remembers Orlando or not, but he wasn’t too phased by the new tenants.
2013: Meet Khaleesi.
2012: No entry.
2011: Princess Poutyface would like to register a complaint, plz.
2010: Isn’t it amazing how quickly they go from little round roly-poly babies to long and lanky kittens?
2009: I can only stand so much sad meowing from kittens, so I caved pretty quickly.
2008: McLovin would like you to know that he’s the man.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Did you once have a tailless kitten who didn’t make it due to complications from lacking a tail? I thought I read about them here, but maybe I’m mixing you up with another fosterer on the web.
Your record is impressive though! What an amazing number of healthy happy kittens who’ve gone on to good homes!
It wasn’t me – I think it might have been Itty Bitty Kitty Committee!
Yes, she’s thinking of Jerry Lee Pickett over at IBKC–poor wee one, that was awfully sad, though of course Laurie cared for him as well as she was able for the all-too-short time he had.
So good to see Khal! Gorgeous as ever.
Your storytelling is so good, you should write your own children’s book about a cat and her kittens, from their perspective. It would be a bestseller!