Ugh! Too Much Work

Sheesh!! I had forgotten how nerve-wracking kittens are.

Tank is 6 weeks old and is pretty self sufficient when it comes to input and output. He eats fine and goes to the litter box with minimal supervision. He is apparently in the Stepping in the Doodles phase of development. He goes to the litter box and then scratches so much you would think he was going to china. When he hops out of the litter box not only has he NOT covered up the doodles, he has also stepped in it. So now I have to chase him down (the little shit hops fast!) and endure his kitten curse words while I wash off his feet and hiney. Other than that he is getting along well.

The nerve wracking part is that he is so small that I constantly have to keep checking on him to make sure he hasn’t gotten himself stuck somewhere or that Cheese hasn’t mistaken him for a challenging snack. Also, I cant seem to get his plumbing sorted out. Either he poops soup or he is constipated. His poor little booty is starting to look sore. It has only been 2 days now but he is so friendly and comfortable with us that I forget it hasn’t been that long. I know the doodle situation will work out, but in the meantime I am constantly thinking that he is going to get the runs and die and it will be all my fault.

Add that to the fact that we acquired a 3 week old kitten yesterday and he still wont eat. We have the formula for him and the bottles but he doesn’t like it. He refuses to latch on to the bottle and suck! It has been 24 hours now and I think I have gotten a whole ounce in him. I keep trying and we both end up a sticky mess. After the force feeding session he is pissed and I am worried. I am going to try a different formula in a couple of hours to see if it is the formula and not the bottle. I don’t know what to do with him if he wont eat. I will probably end up taking him to the vet in desperation.

Well, I am off to find the poop machine and perhaps take care of some doodle maintenance.

Meet Tank

Well, this little guy was found under the shed in my side yard. I knew his mom - PuffPuff -had kittens about 6 weeks ago but I wasnt able to find them in time to take them and socialize them.

Sunday, I was working in the sewing room and my kitty, Autumn, was fascinated with something outside. I went to the bedroom window to get a better view and still couldnt see anything. Michael, however, could, and told me that there was a black and white kitty down there. So, thinking that it was PuffPuff's kittens, I headed down with Michael in tow. Once down there, I had Michael look under the shed but I doubted anything could be under there since the hole was too small. Michael shone the flashlight under there but didnt see anything. He went back in and I just sat at the little table and chair set that is right there. A few minutes later Michael came out with kitty treats which I scattered in front of the hole under the shed.

While I was waiting, PuffPuff wandered around the side yard and froze in her tracks. She is used to humans but no one can pet her or get close to her. When I saw her I knew her kittens were under our shed. This was not going to be fun. I sat as still as I could and just waited. Slowly a tiny paw crept out and stole one of the treats. PuffPuff had slunk closer to the shed and kept a wary eye on me. After about 5 minutes she was close enough for the kitten to see her and he came bounding out to see mommy. Mommy took off and the kitten darted back under the shed. I hadnt moved a finger but PuffPuff is timid and the kittens take their cues from her. Finally, she moved back to the shed and the kitten came back out. PuffPuff made the mistake of squeezing under the shed and I lunged. The kitten couldnt get under because PuffPuff was blocking the entry so I was able to snatch him up. Lets just say that he was not a happy kitty. I scruffed him and he calmed down a little and I snuggled him against my chest with his back to me. He settled down very fast and I took him to my friend, Jackie's house.

Upon examination it turns out he is a very healthy little boy. He is only about 6 weeks but he is already about 2 pounds which is excellent. And that is why we call him Tank - he is HUGE for 6 weeks, but his development is that of a 6 week old kitten. He eats kitten food - both hard and soft - and uses the litter box. I am still teaching him to lap water, and I feel like a total shit for doing it. I bring him to the water bowl and push his nose in it real fast. He hates it and I feel like a bad mommy, but there is no other way to teach him. In the meantime, in order to get fluid in him I mix his wet food with water so it makes a barf colored gruel. He loves it, I get fluid in him, so it works out for all of us.

I am keeping him in the guest room (yes, your room, Mum) and it was just luck that we hadnt filled the waterbed up yet. We had assembled the frame but that was it. Now it is a temporary playpen for the kitten. It is large enough for his bedding, food, water, and small litterbox to be far enough from each other to be acceptable for him, but the sides are high enough (at the moment) to keep him contained within. When I am upstairs I let him run around...well, he hops around really. He is still pretty uncoordinated but he is learning, and he is really cute when he runs/hops.

The most surprising part for me - other than his massive size - is that he is completely socialized. Other than the first 2 minutes when I grabbed him he has not shown any agression or antisocial tendencies. He purrs when I talk to him (which is totally charming), he has met the other cats (they have more of a problem with him than the other way around) and when he gets tired of playing he seeks me out to snuggle (again, completely charming). He has no problem being held by anyone and even Michael has snuggled him.

He has a home already, and as soon as she returns from vacation next week Tank will go to his new home. I am happy for this week, so I can make sure he is a good pet. I always make sure the plumbing works right and that the kittens are trained and used to humans. This little guy was the easiest kitten I have done. I got very lucky considering his age.

Tired Tonight

I have spent all day at the mall and just got home a couple of hours ago. I am tired and am going to bed soon. I am posting the Too-Cute-For-Words pix for today and I will post an update soon...maybe even tomorrow.

This Just In...

Bee-bee Kitties are kyoot Kyoot Kyoot!!!
Just see for yourself.
These were taken before the little boy passed away and I am just now getting the pix up. Sorry.

Sad News with a Good News Chaser

Well, we lost a baby poodin. Well, we didn’t really lose it…we know where it is. It just isn’t living any longer. I noticed that it wasn’t gaining any weight and that it’s output wasn’t looking like it should. I called the vet and she said that there really wasn’t anything that could be done for it since it was so tiny, and that we just had to wait and see what would happen. Well, it died later that night. It always kills me when we lose a poodin.

On a brighter note:

The one that is still with us is definitely thriving. We have named her Bella-Gigi and she is certainly growing to be as beautiful as her name. I have included some AAWWWWW pix so try not to slip into a diabetic coma. LOL

The Anderson Idea of Humor

Yeah...this is what passes for humor in our house.

The first line is mine, the second is the hubby's response to the first.

ahhh...love is grand.

Kyoot Bebe Poodins!!!

We have baby poodins!!! They are soooo kyoot kyoot kyoot!!!!

I was puttering around the house last week and my neighbor came over and showed them to me. They were just a day old and still had their umbilical cords attached. Apparently the momcat had the babies in the garage and then decided to bring them into the house.

The momcat is a stray and had the kittens in the garage. After she did she got the attention of my neighbor and led her to them as if to say, “Look what I made for you!!” Jackie, my neighbor, ooh-ed and ahh-ed over them and then went back in the house. Shortly after that, momcat was at the back screen…with a kitten. Jackie couldn’t imagine that she would want to bring the kitten in but opened the door anyway. Sure enough, momcat brought the kitten in and made herself at home. Now, Jackie has other cats so this wasn’t going to go over well with them. And momcat was screaming at any kitty who even looked her way. So we put the kitty bed (where she had stashed her kittens) in a large crate. Momcat hopped into the crate to be with the kittens and we locked it up and put a towel over it. We then moved it back into the garage where she stayed for a day before trying to bring the kittens back into the house.

The second time she brought the kittens into the house, Jackie moved them and momcat into a bedroom that she wasn’t using. She gave them a nice soft flannel sheet to bed in, food, water, and a litter box. Momcat didn’t leave for 2 days and was pretty happy and content. Now though, momcat goes outside and leaves the kittens for a couple of hours at a time. When that happens Jackie and I rush upstairs and grab the kittens and snuggle them to within an inch of their lives. LOL.

They are 10 days old today and their eyes are starting to open. I am a little concerned about the boy because his…uhhh…output is a different color than what it should be. I called the vet and there isn’t really anything that they can do since they are sooo tiny still. So we are just waiting to see if it resolves itself. If it doesn’t, then we are going to have to take the kitten and start bottle-feeding it to see if that will correct the issue.

Oh, and of course there are photos.

Julia – I think this is what your poodins probably looked like…with the exception of Gracie who is a little fluffball. LOL

Oh my God!! It just keeps getting worse…

The plumbers are here. We still have the leak in the shower. They suggested getting the tile person in to pull up the tiles and check for leakage in the floor. Then they cut a hole into my closet. AND THEN THEY FOUND THE LEAK!!

Well, at least they found the leak. It was in the piping leading up to the shower head. Apparently, when Wayne put everything together he didn’t solder things correctly and now every time I turn on the water it runs down the pipe, into the sub flooring and drips through the ceiling. I could just kill Wayne. At least it is getting fixed though. As soon as they finish with my shower they are going to give us an estimate on routing the pipes to the small upstairs bedroom so we can turn that into the laundry room. That way the laundry room will be upstairs instead of in the basement. Yippee!! That is what I am really looking forward to. Then I can put clothes away as we do them, not all at once when they come up from the basement.

There is good news and bad news: There has been improvement and a minor setback in the knee situation.
First the good news:

The knee is definitely getting stronger. I am able to walk around normally now. I don’t look like Igor dragging one leg behind me ( the crouching and lisp is still there though, “Yeth Masther”).

It doesn’t hurt as much as it once did – though to be honest, it never really hurt that much – now the pain is an occasional thing when I do something without thinking about my knee. Before, there was always an ache down my LCL and in my hamstring.

I walked on the treadmill yesterday at Physical Therapy.

Michael is getting very good at stretching my knee out. The passive stretches I have him do feel really good after I have done my knee exercises.So that is the good news.

And now the not so good news:

The discouraging thing is that I walked on the treadmill yesterday for 4.5 minutes and my knee buckled. I didn’t fall and it wasn’t painful, but I had to stop anyway so I wouldn’t do any more damage. I then went to the bike and did 10 minutes on that. I really hate that damn bike. I have never liked the bike but now I hate it because I have to do it every day in order to strengthen my knee further.

So in all, I think progress is being made and I can – hopefully - avoid the surgery. I have my Drs appt on the 6th this month so I should know more then.