Foster Kittens

My friend Susan is fostering a couple of kittens who are way too young to adopt. They were found abandoned in a field not too far from where we live. There was apparently a third kitten, but it was in bad shape and died shortly after it was found. The other two kittens seem to be doing well, though. Susan is doing all the heavy lifting. I do some feedings after I get home from work, and mostly just do my part to help socialize them by playing with them.

When we got the kittens on June 1st, their eyes we just barely open, their heads bobbed like mad, and they could barely stand. Their initial weights were about 7-8 ounces. We decided they were ~ 2 weeks old based on that, but I'm far from an expert. We decided to name them Zeus (black tabby) and Apollo (yellow tabby) since I loved the idea of naming kittens after Greek gods when Kailie did it. So far, they're doing really well. They both put on over an ounce in two days and they're really gobbling down the formula. They're also starting to stand better and actually walk around the room. They both have conjunctivitis in one eye and we're treating that with some tetracycline cream.

On Arrival:







Yesterday:











Zeus:







Apollo:







Me taking a turn at bottle-feeding:

From the pics, I think your "Zeus" might be a "Hera". It looks like it has some red patches.

Whatever, just adorable and do the ears go back and forth as they nurse?

Ahhhh, yay for the Greek names!!! Now that all of my Greek kittens are adopted, I can watch your's thrive!

They are so, so precious, poor little darlings... How lucky they are to have you and Susan!

that's some awesome work!!

just a little input. Be careful putting the cats on their back like that when feeding them. they can aspirate if they're on their backs. it's better to lay them forward.

I miss those days with my little two runts

Originally Posted by gemlady

From the pics, I think your "Zeus" might be a "Hera". It looks like it has some red patches.

Whatever, just adorable and do the ears go back and forth as they nurse?

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It could be. I've heard that even veterinarians have gotten the sex wrong when dealing with kittens. I see what you're talking about with red patches from time to time, but I'm not sure it isn't just the light and the way the stripes run together. Right now, I'm still thinking that Zeus will look like Buddy when he grows up. Buddy tends to look reddish in certain light, but he's the quintessential tomcat.



As for Apollo, I think he's going to be the spitting image of Tre. He seems to have the ticked tabby pattern where the stripes are very indistinct on his body, but quite visible on his legs and tail.



As for the ears, pretty much everything twitches while they're feeding.

Originally Posted by fastnoc

that's some awesome work!!

just a little input. Be careful putting the cats on their back like that when feeding them. they can aspirate if they're on their backs. it's better to lay them forward.

I miss those days with my little two runts

Click to expand...

Thanks, good to know. We read that in one of my books and we've been trying to do that. The mechanics of it are tough, though. They always raise up when they get the bottle and end up mostly vertical like this.

Oh bless em And bless you guys for taking care of them

These are some of the pictures that I took today. I spent the better part of the day up at Susan's playing with, feeding, and being peed on by the kittens. Apollo has decided that I'm his personal litter box because he peed on me twice today. We're starting to get a little smarter now. We've learned to hold the kittens over the floor when we rub their genitals with the wet wipes. Thank goodness for hardwood floors! It takes 10 seconds to clean up the pee, as opposed to 10 minutes of scrubbing with carpet. Apollo is also turning into quite the lap cat. He took a nap for over an hour on my lap twice today. I think that these kittens are going to be so well socialized by the time we're done with them that they'll cry if their human gets more than two feet away.

Zeus went exploring this morning and discovered the afghan that Susan knitted. She said that it was too much of a piece of crap to give away to anyone, but Zeus didn't seem to mind. He wandered over and found it, then proceeded to make a nest.








Apollo came along afterward and chilled out next to his brother.




BTW, we can't seem to get that caked-on crud off of his face. We've tried wet wipes and washcloths, but it's pretty solid.

Here's Apollo on Susan's lap


And then zonked out on mine.


And zonked out on mine again.



This is Buddy checking out his future body double Zeus:





And lastly, here I am with both kittens.

Aw, they are so precious! Buddy looks like he wants to be a big brother...

Awwwww! They're so precious. You and your friend are such wonderful people to be taking such good care of them!

Originally Posted by Grogs

Thanks, good to know. We read that in one of my books and we've been trying to do that. The mechanics of it are tough, though. They always raise up when they get the bottle and end up mostly vertical like this.

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lol believe me I know. it took me awhile to get it with mine. ended up i had to feed them both at the same time, and let them run up to my hand and put their feet on the bottle. proping them up.

man it's hard to explain. lol but I don't think you're in danger anyway, it's not like they're laying flat on their back.

man oh man that's sweet.

This is such a sweet post - thank you so much for taking the time to upload those pictures! They look like sweethearts... absolutely irresistible! I'd never want to go to work if I had those babies to care for

Originally Posted by Mystik Spiral

Aw, they are so precious! Buddy looks like he wants to be a big brother...

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Yeah, I call Zeus "Mini Me" whenever Buddy is around. I suspect that in a couple of weeks, Zeus will be chasing Buddy around the apartment.

Originally Posted by fastnoc

lol believe me I know. it took me awhile to get it with mine. ended up i had to feed them both at the same time, and let them run up to my hand and put their feet on the bottle. proping them up.

man it's hard to explain. lol but I don't think you're in danger anyway, it's not like they're laying flat on their back.

man oh man that's sweet.

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I'm getting better at it and I think they're getting more used to it and stronger, too. I can get them to stand on all four paws and raise their head up to the bottle now. It just took a little practice.

Originally Posted by parsleysage

This is such a sweet post - thank you so much for taking the time to upload those pictures! They look like sweethearts... absolutely irresistible!

I'd never want to go to work if I had those babies to care for

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Actually, I did go into work 3 hours late today. It wasn't just because I went up and played with the kittens before work, but that was certainly part of it.

BTW, I weighed them tonight. Apollo weighs 12 ounces and Zeus weighs 10.5. That's nearly double what they weighed (7 and 8 ounces) when we first got them.

OMG they are so cute