Well, apart from spending nearly the entire month of April sick (yes, I caught yet ANOTHER cold!) I have been keeping my hands pretty busy with these little ones:
On Monday April 19th, someone brought a boat into my dad's shop to sell. It wasn't until Thursday evening the 22nd, that my dad brought the boat in the shop to clean it out for photos. When he climbed inside to check things out he was surprised to find it not only had it gathered about two inches of water in the hull, but also six little kittens were floating around on a piece of wood!
Amazingly, all six were alive, but not doing too well. Because it was so late on Thursday evening, he put them in a box and waited for me to drive back on Friday before deciding what to do with them. That means, in five days these little 3-4 week old kittens survived in a water-logged boat with no mommy to love or care for them... so, of course, being the animal lover that I am, I offered to take care of them until they could find some new, loving homes.
So, on Friday, I went down to the shop and spent the entire afternoon nursing the kittens and trying to get them cleaned up. They were pretty nasty after five days without a mother's care, so I had to clean out their goopy eyes and I even was responsible for "encouraging bowel movements". For those of you who have never nursed small animals, be very thankful you have never heard the words, "Just use a wet washcloth to rub their little bottoms until the poop comes out"..."like how their mom would lick them"!
--Um, yuck!---
I stopped right there and was so thankful humans do not have to lick the poop out of their babies...
Can I get an amen?!
But, from an evolutionary perspective, I guess it makes sense. After all, when the mother is out finding food, the babies are unable to go to the bathroom, thus cutting down on the chances a predator could smell them and come eat them. Addtionally, when the mother returns and literally "licks the crap out of them", she gets rid of any residual odors...
---ok, enough with the nasty stuff, back to the cute part!---
There have been ups and downs through this process. Of the six, one little black and white one did not seem to be doing so well. In fact, "sick kitty", as he was named, hardly looked like he was going to make it. I spent extra time with him Friday and Saturday trying to force kitten formula down his throat.
I'm proud to say my hard work paid off!
By Sunday, "sick kitty" was renamed "Skip Junior" because he turned into a little holy terror! He now chases his brothers and sister around biting them and pouncing on everything that moves.
I bet by now you are wondering what on earth I am going to do with six kittens.... Well, fortunately there are several other bleeding hearts out there and I can proudly say ALL six kitten have homes waiting for them. In fact, one particularly nice gentleman saw them at the shop on the first day and mentioned he bottle-fed his old cat when it was just a baby and he offered to take three that day. I was a little skeptical letting someone else bottle feed the little ones, but he seemed like a perfect home. He even laughed say, "My wife is going to think I've lost my mind bringing home three kittens". Now, a nearly a week later, he called back to our shop to let us know he has become a hero in his household for taking in the kitties. He said they are all doing well and terrorizing one another every chance they get.
Brandon rolled his eyes when I came home with these three little cuties, and he didn't miss a beat saying we are NOT keeping any. Although I would love to, he is right about not needing more... Skipper is bad enough already.
So, the last three have found homes with some friends of my parents' and will move out once they get a little older. In the meantime, Johnson, Mercury, and Evinrude (all named after boat motors!), are having a good time living in our garage and playing in our front yard while we are home!
Last of all, I would like to take this time to encourage people to always spay or neuter these animals. Not all critters are as fortunate as these babies. Most unwanted animals end up in shelters or on the streets with little hope for safe and loving homes. So please, do the right thing and spay or neuter your pet.
On Monday April 19th, someone brought a boat into my dad's shop to sell. It wasn't until Thursday evening the 22nd, that my dad brought the boat in the shop to clean it out for photos. When he climbed inside to check things out he was surprised to find it not only had it gathered about two inches of water in the hull, but also six little kittens were floating around on a piece of wood!
Amazingly, all six were alive, but not doing too well. Because it was so late on Thursday evening, he put them in a box and waited for me to drive back on Friday before deciding what to do with them. That means, in five days these little 3-4 week old kittens survived in a water-logged boat with no mommy to love or care for them... so, of course, being the animal lover that I am, I offered to take care of them until they could find some new, loving homes.
So, on Friday, I went down to the shop and spent the entire afternoon nursing the kittens and trying to get them cleaned up. They were pretty nasty after five days without a mother's care, so I had to clean out their goopy eyes and I even was responsible for "encouraging bowel movements". For those of you who have never nursed small animals, be very thankful you have never heard the words, "Just use a wet washcloth to rub their little bottoms until the poop comes out"..."like how their mom would lick them"!
--Um, yuck!---
I stopped right there and was so thankful humans do not have to lick the poop out of their babies...
Can I get an amen?!
But, from an evolutionary perspective, I guess it makes sense. After all, when the mother is out finding food, the babies are unable to go to the bathroom, thus cutting down on the chances a predator could smell them and come eat them. Addtionally, when the mother returns and literally "licks the crap out of them", she gets rid of any residual odors...
---ok, enough with the nasty stuff, back to the cute part!---
There have been ups and downs through this process. Of the six, one little black and white one did not seem to be doing so well. In fact, "sick kitty", as he was named, hardly looked like he was going to make it. I spent extra time with him Friday and Saturday trying to force kitten formula down his throat.
I'm proud to say my hard work paid off!
By Sunday, "sick kitty" was renamed "Skip Junior" because he turned into a little holy terror! He now chases his brothers and sister around biting them and pouncing on everything that moves.
I bet by now you are wondering what on earth I am going to do with six kittens.... Well, fortunately there are several other bleeding hearts out there and I can proudly say ALL six kitten have homes waiting for them. In fact, one particularly nice gentleman saw them at the shop on the first day and mentioned he bottle-fed his old cat when it was just a baby and he offered to take three that day. I was a little skeptical letting someone else bottle feed the little ones, but he seemed like a perfect home. He even laughed say, "My wife is going to think I've lost my mind bringing home three kittens". Now, a nearly a week later, he called back to our shop to let us know he has become a hero in his household for taking in the kitties. He said they are all doing well and terrorizing one another every chance they get.
Brandon rolled his eyes when I came home with these three little cuties, and he didn't miss a beat saying we are NOT keeping any. Although I would love to, he is right about not needing more... Skipper is bad enough already.
So, the last three have found homes with some friends of my parents' and will move out once they get a little older. In the meantime, Johnson, Mercury, and Evinrude (all named after boat motors!), are having a good time living in our garage and playing in our front yard while we are home!
Last of all, I would like to take this time to encourage people to always spay or neuter these animals. Not all critters are as fortunate as these babies. Most unwanted animals end up in shelters or on the streets with little hope for safe and loving homes. So please, do the right thing and spay or neuter your pet.
Good Sunday morning! I just found your blog, and I'm enchanted. You've got a fellow make-do-with-less friend here. Love your post about the kittens. As a volunteer for my (big) city's pound, I am glad to hear other people urging us all to spay and neuter. Now, back to read more of your posts!
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