St. Francis of Assisi and the Foster Room

St. Francis

There's a new addition to the foster room, even though you will not see him full time. He's a little guy, about 4-5 weeks old (not to be fooled by his weight, which suggests he's about 3 weeks old). He's too tiny to roam freely without supervision. And Adler, the Easter kittens' momma cat, is REALLY not fond of him. Hopefully she'll warm up to him as he gets older.

St. Francis came to animal control as an orphan stray, cold and too weak to eat. Animal control does not like to keep tiny kittens overnight so they put out a plea to rescues to take him that day. He was rushed to our emergency vet; his transporter wasn't sure he would make it. His temp was well below normal. He was dehydrated and emaciated. He spent a couple of nights in intensive care in an incubator.

His transporter was told he was a girl and named him St. Mary as she drove by that cathedral. The vet discovered she was a he. By group consensus, his named was changed to St. Francis, patron saint of animals. He likes to be called Frank.

Frank is eating on his own and loves to toddle about. He is a snuggler, too. A major snuggler. He purrs constantly.  He is quite good at amusing himself (he was playing with shadows in his carrier all by himself on the drive home from the vet). He's a feisty little guy with great lungs (read: he can scream quite loudly!).

In a few weeks, if Adler accepts him, he will be able to join the Easter kittens. He currently gets supervised playtime with them and he loves it (although he much prefers to cuddle with his caregiver).

New Kids Came Hopping Into Town

Adler and her kittens

I wasn't planning to get a new foster family but the caregiver slated to take Adler and her kittens refused at the last minute because Adler growled at her. It scared her. To me, as long as they aren't lunging at me with ears flat, I'm fine. And even then, I'm still fine (cue last year's second momma Reba and her country kittens).

As a side note: I was not expecting to have a new litter and as a result, I didn't have a room set up for them. They had to share with Doyle and Jacq. For the first few days, Adler was confined to the play pen with the kittens to keep her from getting bombarded by Doyle and Jacq. I wasn't sure how she'd react to them as a protective momma; and Doyle and Jacq were way too excited about having a nursing momma in the room.  Adler was not fond of the two roaming kittens. I moved Doyle and Jacq upstairs and they're doing absolutely wonderfully in their new room. Doyle and Jacq have made so much progress.  They even just got posted for adoption!

Quack

Back to my story. This is Adler's third litter. The people who found her have seen her other litters. I named Adler after the family in the movie Gifted, which I saw the day before taking in Adler and her kittens. I'm thinking of making that a thing. Nadya, one of my momma cats years ago, was named after a character in The Muppets, a movie I saw just before getting Nadya. But I digress. 

Bonnet

Adler is actually a sweet girl. She was just protecting her kittens from people she didn't know, warning both her kittens and me to stay back. She let me pet her right away and pick up her kittens without too much concern. She did watch me like a hawk but never made any aggressive move. For days, whenever I'd enter her room, she'd growl... until she realized I brought food. 

When I brought the kittens home, they were about two and a half weeks old. Their ears were still floppy, their eyes still blue, and only one could walk. That would be Peep, the runt and the first to do everything. But I get ahead of myself. 

Peep

Hippity Hop

I brought the kittens home just a few days before Easter. I gave them Easter-y names. Since we like to have unique names to enter in the database to avoid confusion, I stretched the theme and came up with some funky names. 

Three of the kittens are brown mackerel tabbies and are pretty identical. Their personalities are now starting to come through, making them very identifiable. Peep was the first mobile kitten and as she walked around, meowed constantly, almost as if she was saying, "I'm doing it! Look at me go! Nothing's gonna stop me now!" Peep was the first one to bathe herself, the first one to use the litter box. I clipped the hair on the other female tabby so I could tell her apart from Peep. With that haircut, I named her Bonnet (as in Easter bonnet). The other tabby was male and much bigger. He's a little sweetie that likes to be cuddled and likes to eat. His name is Hippity Hop. 

Hammy

The classic tabby is a female and named Ducky. 

Ducky

One of the tuxies is female; the other male. One is named Eggs, the other Hammy. 

And finally, Quack is the solid black male kitten. Quack has swimmer's legs, which means his back legs splay outwards. He used them to push himself around instead of walk. Now that he's getting stronger and has had some PT, he's walking a little better. 

Eggs

Just when the kittens turned 4 weeks old, Adler decided she was done being a momma cat.  A few days later, she threw a fever and had mastitis. She knew she was getting sick, which is why she left her kittens.  I got saddled with feeding duty. Since the kittens were about the age to be weaned, I started them off on a syringe full of slurry, which is formula and canned babycat food mixed together. After a few days of syringe feedings, I introduced a plate. I would give them a few shots of food from the syringe and then put a plate right in front of their face while I held each one my lap. One night, three of the seven ate from the plate. The next morning, all of them were eating from the plate, provided I enticed them with a shot from the syringe. By that evening, the kittens were eating in a group, on the floor, from the plate. Quack still needs some encouragement with a shot from the syringe before he remembers what food is. 

Hammy and Quack

As Adler started to feel better, she would jump into the playpen to nurse her kittens about once a day. The kittens were so excited to see her. But once she fully recovered, with the kittens eating well on their own, Adler decided that she didn't need to mother them. Occasionally she comes over to the pen to watch them but if they cry out, she doesn't tend to them, doesn't even call back. She's a sweet girl; she's just done being a momma. 

Bonnet and Peep

It's now May and the kittens are 5 weeks old. Their little personalities are shining through. Bonnet is a pistol and hisses at me. Hammy started off hissing, spitting, and even growling at me (if you can imagine my terror when a 12 ounce kitten hissed) and now seems to like to spit at things for fun. Peep is my girl; she begs to have me pick her up and cuddle her. Quack is a simple guy who doesn't quite seem to fit in with the others. He often plays by himself or not at all. He was the first to purr for me. Eggs and Ducky have a ton of energy. Hippity Hop is a special guy, where I think there's not a lot going on in his head (which is fine because he has love in his heart). He's a big ol' bruiser of a kitten. 

There are four girls and three boys in the litter. Hippity Hop and Hammy are vying for biggest kitten; they alternate the top position. Eggs, Peep, and Bonnet are the smallest kittens. Peep was the original runt by several ounces; she shot up in weight but then got passed by her sisters. She's too busy trucking around, burning off calories. 

Hippity Hop

They're still learning to use the litter box. They've got it down for pooping (although someone did poop in the middle of the breakfast plate the other day; no one's talking about which one did it) but we're still working on getting them to use it every time they pee. The kittens are currently
confined to a play pen. The top is off so Adler can jump in if she wants to. She doesn't want to. The kittens are threatening to climb out. I have a feeling it will be Hammy or Ducky. Of course, given that Peep is the first to do everything, perhaps it will be she who steals her freedom. As soon as that happens, the kittens will get to be free roaming. For now, I'm happy to have them confined. 

These guys will be ready to be adopted the third week of June. 

Ducky

Eggs