Anyone who knows cats knows they typically have just 18 toes, 5 on each front paw and 4 each on the back paws. Our little polydactyl kittens have an average of 3 extra toes each. Everyone but Brodie has 5 toes on each back paw. Lucky Brodie has six on one of his back feet. He also has an odd number on the forepaws - six on one side and seven on the other. Destined to be one very lucky kitty, to be sure.
Sailor, our mom, also has different front paws. She has a 'normal' 5-toed paw plus one 6-toed - but the extra toe is like a thumb! Two of our littles (Pickles & Hoover) have seven on each front paw. Driscoll & Bentley each have 6-toed front paws. Drake, like brother Brodie, has a six-toe and a seven-toe.
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| Hey, who needs a manicure? |
But back to the runny noses. Poor little babies. Mom's basically over her Upper Respiratory infection now. She's feeling much better, eating well & bursting with milk. She's bursting because the kittens are too stuffed up to suckle. Clinic vet let me put the kittens on the same antibiotic as mom. Our great friend Mary lent her nebulizer box (basically a vaporizer into which you put the kittens for a breathing treatment with saline vapor). Since the kittens can't nurse if they can't breathe, they are also getting tube-fed so they don't dehydrate. A little BNP ointment for the gummed-up eyes. Rinse. Repeat.
At least the upstairs kittens are healthy. At week 6, mom Creamy went back to the shelter yesterday. She'll be spayed & ready for adoption right away. A gorgeous lynx-point Siamese, she should have no trouble finding a forever home soon. She's a real sweetie-pie.
Back to the kitchen, I'm sure it's feeding time for someone. :)
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