Kitten Update

Well, after a very challenging day of checking on the two remaining kittens (the whereabouts of the third kitten is still unknown), I decided to bring them in.  I had been checking in on them approximately every hour and had given the mama a number of opportunities to move them if she intended to.  Whether or not she was too scared to do so, couldn't for some reason, or perhaps they had been abandoned, I'll probably never know.  When I saw flies beginning to land on the kittens and they were crying a lot and moving out into the open, I picked them up and carried them home using my t-shirt as a basket.  They calmed down as soon as I cuddled them into my shirt.  When we got home, the whole house was thrown into chaos by the two, tiny, squalling infants.  My cats were freaking out and Allie didn't know if they were the best squeaky toys ever or her "charges" to watch over.  They were VERY active and I eventually had to put them in a cat carrier to keep them from crawling away or falling off of whatever I tried to put them on temporarily.  They settled into their digs and napped a bit on their towel bed in their "room".

As I was walking home with the kittens an experienced rescue person that I had called, returned my call and said that, yes, she would take the kittens in and bottle feed them.  Wow.  As soon as I committed to the kittens, my need was answered - something for me to ponder...    I spoke with many people today, some of whom do not even know me.  The fact that I was given a lead to call someone who might know someone who might be able to help and somehow it all came together is nothing short of a miracle.  To all my new, and previous, friends who helped today - the biggest thank you isn't even enough...

I drove the kittens to their new person this evening and stayed for an hour or so to learn a bit about bottle feeding youngsters.  I also took a turn at feeding them and it was so rewarding when the bigger of the two figured out how to get milk from the little tiny bottle I was encouraging him to drink from.

So, for now, they are safe, warm, and fed.  Their odds are still long, since even expert bottle feeding cannot compete with a Mama kitty's care.  These kittens will need to be fed about every 4 hours and will also need their belly's massaged in order to eliminate waste.  This is a huge commitment and I'm very aware that many people take on this resonsibility every day for no compensation and, often, no appreciation - just because they can help to save a life.  Please take a moment to thank anyone and everyone you know who does any kind of rescue work - it's all heart and it's not easy.