I missed Smudge's Gotcha Day on September 7 - better late than never!
I was taking Lily into the shelter (where I volunteer) for the last of her kitten shots, when one of the staff ushered me into the isolation room and dumped this little back ball of fuzz into my hands and told me if I didn't take her she was going to euthanised. Who could say no to that??
She would have only been about 3 weeks old, but was actually eating on her own and mostly using the litter tray. I think she'd been separated from her mum, and someone had found her and been hand raising her, but couldn't keep her because they were going on a business trip and had no one else to look after her (or something like that...). It was hard to tell her age because she had some kitten teeth (and kept chewing through the nipples when we tried bottle feeding her), but she was only 13 oz.
She was a sickly little thing, stunk, had goopy eyes, had diarrhea and was a real mess. I took her back to the shelter for a checkup after a few days and she'd lost an ounce and was dehydrated. They put fluids into her, but told me that they thought she wasn't going to make it. Smudge was a fighter though, and loved her food, so she had a good chance.
With help from Nikki (StarryEyedTiger) and a wonderful lady from the pet store I made up some kitten mush with a heap of various things in it, and she started improving out of sight.
She was still a runt though, so she couldn't get spayed until she was big enough, and she also had eye problems, so had to get anaesthetised so she could have her eyes fixed up.
By the time she was ready for adoption she was about 5 months old, and my husband and I had completely fallen in love with her.
Smudge has been the most wonderful addition. She LOVES people, and always runs to greet us, and will leap onto our back/shoulder at any given opportunity. She loves to snuggle with DH when he's in bed - she lies on his chest and smushes her face against his and nuzzles him. She's done it ever since she's been allowed on her bed, and has never grown out of it. Everyone who meets her falls in love - she's just that sort of cat.
Anyway, so here's out Smudgey, from baby to big girl!
September 7 2006
September 12
September 17
October 8
October 20
December
January
February
I was taking Lily into the shelter (where I volunteer) for the last of her kitten shots, when one of the staff ushered me into the isolation room and dumped this little back ball of fuzz into my hands and told me if I didn't take her she was going to euthanised. Who could say no to that??
She would have only been about 3 weeks old, but was actually eating on her own and mostly using the litter tray. I think she'd been separated from her mum, and someone had found her and been hand raising her, but couldn't keep her because they were going on a business trip and had no one else to look after her (or something like that...). It was hard to tell her age because she had some kitten teeth (and kept chewing through the nipples when we tried bottle feeding her), but she was only 13 oz.
She was a sickly little thing, stunk, had goopy eyes, had diarrhea and was a real mess. I took her back to the shelter for a checkup after a few days and she'd lost an ounce and was dehydrated. They put fluids into her, but told me that they thought she wasn't going to make it. Smudge was a fighter though, and loved her food, so she had a good chance.
With help from Nikki (StarryEyedTiger) and a wonderful lady from the pet store I made up some kitten mush with a heap of various things in it, and she started improving out of sight.
She was still a runt though, so she couldn't get spayed until she was big enough, and she also had eye problems, so had to get anaesthetised so she could have her eyes fixed up.
By the time she was ready for adoption she was about 5 months old, and my husband and I had completely fallen in love with her.
Smudge has been the most wonderful addition. She LOVES people, and always runs to greet us, and will leap onto our back/shoulder at any given opportunity. She loves to snuggle with DH when he's in bed - she lies on his chest and smushes her face against his and nuzzles him. She's done it ever since she's been allowed on her bed, and has never grown out of it. Everyone who meets her falls in love - she's just that sort of cat.
Anyway, so here's out Smudgey, from baby to big girl!
September 7 2006
September 12
September 17
October 8
October 20
December
January
February
