The Behinder I get, the Behinder I get ... August 2, 2011

I've tried, really.  There's just so much going on that I can't seem to catch up.

Where to start?  Let's see, 10 days ago I picked up a new mom & 6 tiny kittens (sorry, still no good pictures).  I thought all I'd have to deal with were a couple of fleas, but no-o-o-o...  Mom (Sailor) came down with major Upper Respiratory Infection, first in her throat - causing massive drooling.  She wasn't able to clean or care for her infant kittens very well and barely able to eat anything.  She lost her magnificent motor-boat purr.  Poor baby.  She's such a skinny little thing anyway.  After a couple of trips to the shelter clinic, we came home with a laundry list of meds - ValTorb for the sore throat, Vitamin C & Lysine to boost her immune system, and Colostrum to help with her milk production.  That seemed to help for a couple of days, but (of course) the URI expanded to her eyes & nose.  She stopped eating again.  Back to clinic for more meds, now MetaCam & Amoxicillin.  We'll beat those germs out of her yet!

Sailor loves her scratching post

She's taking better care of the babies now.  So far, they are still gaining weight, slowly, but still gaining.  It's some relief that at least I don't have to bottle feed them (keep your fingers crossed).  Sailor is such a sweetie-pie.  All she wants is to cuddle up and be held.  She takes her meds like a trooper.  When she can eat, she loves A/D mixed with a little KMR 'gravy'.

Camera shy?

The kittens (a little over 2 weeks old now) all have their eyes open (no goo, yea!).  There are a few sneezes, but so far, nothing like what Mom's got.  There will be pictures as soon as they are all cleaned up - and that promised toe-count!  We've got 5 boys and 1 girl - Driscoll, Drake, Hoover, Bentley, Brodie, and Pickles.  All gray-ish, tabby-ish polydactyl kittens.  From what I can tell right now, they WILL be a handful!

A rare quiet moment

Meanwhile, upstairs .... Creamy's kittens have been through Week 5 - one of my favorite weeks of kittenhood.  Running, jumping, bouncing, climbing, eating - all of life's important lessons crammed into one week of action-packed learning.  Did I mention climbing?  Where's the 'OFF' switch?  And who keeps missing the litterbox?  You guys know better than this!  Anyone who has raised little kittens knows, that first week of litterbox use, no matter how many times you scoop, the whole room reeks of kitten-poop.  Ew-ew-ew.

A Handsome Prince

Oh, and then there's the extra shelter kitty here on 'vacation' while the indoor/outdoor kennels get resurfaced?  Princey-Boy (or just Prince).  He's a beautiful Maine Coon, but slightly tempramental.  Would probably like to be an only cat.  He's 10 years old - turned in by his owners who claimed the reason as 'they have a 2 year old daughter'.  Not sure if their intention was to protect the cat or the kid.  He has taken up residence in the upstairs bathroom so that he can have 'a room of his own'.  I go in several times a day to say 'hi' and give him some love.  In the evenings, he gets to come out into the den with me for a little TV time.  He's still kind of nervous about the big change in his life.  He'll be here for a couple of weeks or so.

Lorenza (barely visible in cubby), Colleen (up top), Cotton

For those of you keeping track, when you add in my own 3 cats, thats 17, yep - seventeen cats in the house.  I think that's just one shy of official 'crazy cat lady' status.  Thank goodness for the two moms, even though they've both been sick, I couldn't have done it without them.

So now you know why there've been no posts, no pics, no videos.  I'm exhausted.