Mostly-kitten update, now with bonus rant
I took the kits to the vet today for their second checkup. The verdict: I get them for another week, and then if they're completely better at that point, they'll go up for adoption. Ramona needs to stop with the diarrhea, so we're stopping her antibiotics and the vet gave me some other medicine for her. Oliver is still sneezing and having a snotty nose, so the vet switched his antibiotic to one that will hopefully work better.
The biggest change from last week is how BIG they are. Oliver gained ANOTHER NINE OUNCES!! Go Oliver! Ramona only gained a couple of ounces, because of her stomach troubles, but at least she didn't lose weight. The kittens are almost exactly the same weight now! That boggles my mind. Oliver was such a scrawny thing when I got them!
While I was at the vet, I saw two women, a mother and daughter I think, surrender a kitten. (The place where you go for foster kitties is the same room for surrendering animals.) Apparently their cat had kittens (spay and neuter your pets, people!), and all the others got adopted, but this one got really sick and nobody would take her. She was sneezy and her eyes were puffy and she had stains from nose and eye discharge. They said she was twelve weeks old, but she was smaller than my eight-week-old kits. :( :( She had beautiful long hair and looked super soft, but I didn't touch her because I didn't want to infect my own kitties. She looked soooo sad and scared that they were giving her up. She kept mewing in fear. :(
I guess they didn't have enough money for the vet bills for her, plus the daughter was moving away and couldn't keep the kitten. They even balked at the $35 dollar fee the Humane Society asks when you surrender an animal, so the guy behind the counter said they don't make you pay if you can't afford it, but he gave them a whole speech about how it will probably take hundreds of dollars in vet bills to get this kitten better, and they're a non-profit, so the fee is for a purpose.
Ranting time: When you get a pet, you take on a responsibility. You can't just give up the pet when it's not convenient for you. If you think you might have to do that later, don't get a pet. And FFS, spay your cat if kittens are going to be a problem for you. Kittens get sick. They get sick EASILY. They're not just fluffy little purrballs, they take a lot of work (I know exactly how much now!) and just as much responsibility as having an adult cat. As much as I would have loved to see Hypatia with little tiny versions of herself, I knew I couldn't take care of like SIX MORE CATS if that happened.
I know there are circumstances where people have to give up their pets and it can't be helped, but there are a lot of times where it's preventable, too. When you get a pet or are thinking of getting a pet, think ahead to the animal's future. If you don't think you will want a pet in five or ten years (e.g. if you're planning on having kids and won't want a pet around the baby), you can always adopt an older pet instead of a tiny kitten or puppy. They need homes too, and often have a hard time finding them.
I learned while I was there that while the Humane Society does not offer vet services, they DO offer spaying and neutering services, on a sliding scale based on income. SO if you have a pet that's not altered, and you can't afford the vet bills, get thee to the Humane Society and fill out the forms!
Okay, rant over.
I wonder what will happen to that little kit. I hope she goes to a good foster home with people who can take care of her while she recovers from her illness. I hope she's not too sick to cure. :( I think I would have offered to take her home for fostering on the spot, if I didn't have Oliver and Ramona. Sick animals bring out my protective instinct.
In other kitten news, Hypatia taught Ramona how to growl! Or rather, Ramona learned it from watching Hypatia. ("I learned it from you, dad! I learned it from watching you!!") Hypatia tends to hiss and growl when she sees a kitten, which happens more often now that they have learned that they can slip out the door pretty easily when I open it to go in or out. And after the latest Hypatia encounter, Ramona started playing with the string on one of my drawstring skirts hanging in the closet, and she growled at it! It was kind of adorable in an "at least it's a string and not a person" kind of way.
Ramona has also been a little sweeter lately. Today, she even came up to me for purrs and petting, which boggled my mind. Maybe she learned it from watching Oliver? Anyway, I'm glad she's "socializing," as they say. The kittens even get to see a kid tomorrow--Kate's little cousin Rose is coming over to pet them. I'll be at work, but I'd love to see how they act around kids.
Oliver did something a little troubling the other day--I put down a bowl of food for them, he started eating, and then Ramona came over to eat some, and he actually batted her away with his paws. Possessive of food is not a good thing for a pet to be, so I said "no!" and pulled him away so Ramona could eat, and he hasn't shown any signs of that since. It's something to keep an eye on though.
IN NON-KITTEN NEWS (finally), I applied for the job in Amherst! I even wrote a cover letter and everything, with Rose's help. I feel all adult ("Go to the motherf*cking BANK like an ADULT") now. Even if I don't get the job, it was good practice for applying to future jobs. And I know how to do a cover letter now, because Rose is awesome.
I'm pretty exhausted and still not doing much other than kittens, but I'm not unhappy. Sometimes it's good to have something that keeps me busy, as long as it's something I care about.
The biggest change from last week is how BIG they are. Oliver gained ANOTHER NINE OUNCES!! Go Oliver! Ramona only gained a couple of ounces, because of her stomach troubles, but at least she didn't lose weight. The kittens are almost exactly the same weight now! That boggles my mind. Oliver was such a scrawny thing when I got them!
While I was at the vet, I saw two women, a mother and daughter I think, surrender a kitten. (The place where you go for foster kitties is the same room for surrendering animals.) Apparently their cat had kittens (spay and neuter your pets, people!), and all the others got adopted, but this one got really sick and nobody would take her. She was sneezy and her eyes were puffy and she had stains from nose and eye discharge. They said she was twelve weeks old, but she was smaller than my eight-week-old kits. :( :( She had beautiful long hair and looked super soft, but I didn't touch her because I didn't want to infect my own kitties. She looked soooo sad and scared that they were giving her up. She kept mewing in fear. :(
I guess they didn't have enough money for the vet bills for her, plus the daughter was moving away and couldn't keep the kitten. They even balked at the $35 dollar fee the Humane Society asks when you surrender an animal, so the guy behind the counter said they don't make you pay if you can't afford it, but he gave them a whole speech about how it will probably take hundreds of dollars in vet bills to get this kitten better, and they're a non-profit, so the fee is for a purpose.
Ranting time: When you get a pet, you take on a responsibility. You can't just give up the pet when it's not convenient for you. If you think you might have to do that later, don't get a pet. And FFS, spay your cat if kittens are going to be a problem for you. Kittens get sick. They get sick EASILY. They're not just fluffy little purrballs, they take a lot of work (I know exactly how much now!) and just as much responsibility as having an adult cat. As much as I would have loved to see Hypatia with little tiny versions of herself, I knew I couldn't take care of like SIX MORE CATS if that happened.
I know there are circumstances where people have to give up their pets and it can't be helped, but there are a lot of times where it's preventable, too. When you get a pet or are thinking of getting a pet, think ahead to the animal's future. If you don't think you will want a pet in five or ten years (e.g. if you're planning on having kids and won't want a pet around the baby), you can always adopt an older pet instead of a tiny kitten or puppy. They need homes too, and often have a hard time finding them.
I learned while I was there that while the Humane Society does not offer vet services, they DO offer spaying and neutering services, on a sliding scale based on income. SO if you have a pet that's not altered, and you can't afford the vet bills, get thee to the Humane Society and fill out the forms!
Okay, rant over.
I wonder what will happen to that little kit. I hope she goes to a good foster home with people who can take care of her while she recovers from her illness. I hope she's not too sick to cure. :( I think I would have offered to take her home for fostering on the spot, if I didn't have Oliver and Ramona. Sick animals bring out my protective instinct.
In other kitten news, Hypatia taught Ramona how to growl! Or rather, Ramona learned it from watching Hypatia. ("I learned it from you, dad! I learned it from watching you!!") Hypatia tends to hiss and growl when she sees a kitten, which happens more often now that they have learned that they can slip out the door pretty easily when I open it to go in or out. And after the latest Hypatia encounter, Ramona started playing with the string on one of my drawstring skirts hanging in the closet, and she growled at it! It was kind of adorable in an "at least it's a string and not a person" kind of way.
Ramona has also been a little sweeter lately. Today, she even came up to me for purrs and petting, which boggled my mind. Maybe she learned it from watching Oliver? Anyway, I'm glad she's "socializing," as they say. The kittens even get to see a kid tomorrow--Kate's little cousin Rose is coming over to pet them. I'll be at work, but I'd love to see how they act around kids.
Oliver did something a little troubling the other day--I put down a bowl of food for them, he started eating, and then Ramona came over to eat some, and he actually batted her away with his paws. Possessive of food is not a good thing for a pet to be, so I said "no!" and pulled him away so Ramona could eat, and he hasn't shown any signs of that since. It's something to keep an eye on though.
IN NON-KITTEN NEWS (finally), I applied for the job in Amherst! I even wrote a cover letter and everything, with Rose's help. I feel all adult ("Go to the motherf*cking BANK like an ADULT") now. Even if I don't get the job, it was good practice for applying to future jobs. And I know how to do a cover letter now, because Rose is awesome.
I'm pretty exhausted and still not doing much other than kittens, but I'm not unhappy. Sometimes it's good to have something that keeps me busy, as long as it's something I care about.