It was a seemingly innocent voicemail from a coordinator at the shelter I volunteer for. When I returned her call, she asked in a tiny little voice, "Could you possibly foster some bottle babies for us?" I asked how many, and in an even teenier voice, she asked... "Fooouuuuur?"
Well, gosh. With Dylan not feeling well, Mom and I will have to stick close to home for awhile anyway... so we talked it over, hopped in the car, and went to pick up the babies. On the way, I called to confirm that we would take them, and the coordinator said, "Oh, by the way, I was confused -- there are five."
Okay. Five.
So we arrive at the shelter, and she leads us over to a tiny carrier sitting on a heating pad. When we look inside... one, two, three... four... five...
Six?
The coordinator called across the room to one of the vet techs, "Did you know there are SIX in here?"
"SIX? Are you sure?"
Yup. Six.
I raised an eyebrow, turned to my mom, and said, "I think we've been had!"
We all laughed and gathered up the kittens and some bottles and some KMR to get started, and Mom and I headed home to somehow tell my father we now had TWELVE cats in the house. Not to mention Dorothy in the back yard!
But Dorothy is part of the deal: we took these little fosters, so they're taking Dorothy into the shelter tomorrow!
Now she'll be safe, and she'll have a chance at a really good home... I'm so glad! We'll miss her, though... she's a lovely, gentle little soul.
These kittens are unbelievably tiny -- about two weeks old, but very small for their age. Their eyes are barely open, and three of them have some kind of gunk going on with their eyes, so we have eyedrops for them, too.
And that brings up my first question for those of you with more experience than I have: if the eye is completely closed, how should the eyedrops be applied? They just roll right off as it is... should I maybe dab very gently with a cotton ball?
Pictures will be forthcoming after their next feeding, which is due -- uhoh --right now!
Well, gosh. With Dylan not feeling well, Mom and I will have to stick close to home for awhile anyway... so we talked it over, hopped in the car, and went to pick up the babies. On the way, I called to confirm that we would take them, and the coordinator said, "Oh, by the way, I was confused -- there are five."
Okay. Five.
So we arrive at the shelter, and she leads us over to a tiny carrier sitting on a heating pad. When we look inside... one, two, three... four... five...
Six?
The coordinator called across the room to one of the vet techs, "Did you know there are SIX in here?"
"SIX? Are you sure?"
Yup. Six.
We all laughed and gathered up the kittens and some bottles and some KMR to get started, and Mom and I headed home to somehow tell my father we now had TWELVE cats in the house. Not to mention Dorothy in the back yard!
But Dorothy is part of the deal: we took these little fosters, so they're taking Dorothy into the shelter tomorrow!
These kittens are unbelievably tiny -- about two weeks old, but very small for their age. Their eyes are barely open, and three of them have some kind of gunk going on with their eyes, so we have eyedrops for them, too.
And that brings up my first question for those of you with more experience than I have: if the eye is completely closed, how should the eyedrops be applied? They just roll right off as it is... should I maybe dab very gently with a cotton ball?
Pictures will be forthcoming after their next feeding, which is due -- uhoh --right now!