Hello everyone ! ! It's been quite some time since I posted. It seems things have been quite hectic for me of late. Mostly because at my "ripe old age" I have become a mother.....of a kitten no less. Several weeks ago I found a litter of kittens on the property and apparently the mother cat had abandoned them. There were four total, but one was already gone by the time I found them. I fed the three remaining ones goats milk thru a medicine dropper and made a box "nest" for them. Although I returned the box to where I found them after I fed them the mother cat never returned so I found myself committed to trying to raise them. I did some research online and found a wonderful article written by a woman who has raised feral kittens for ten years and her information was invaluable. Unfortunately, the smallest of the three died within a couple of days, and the second one was gone about a week and a half later. However, the third one seems to be thriving and she is now a little over 4 weeks old. She has totally and completely captured our hearts and there is no doubt she is a joy.....albeit a lot of work. The nighttime feedings were difficult for me at first, but I got used to it. I certainly can now understand why women have their children when they are young.....you just don't have the energy for it when you get older ! ! Or at least that has been my experience. Anyway, here is a photo of her taken within the last few days and you can see how adorable she is. Jack was playing with her and she was quite interested in his nose ! !
We have named her "Squeaker" which suits her great. From the beginning she was always the most vocal. She has now gotten some teeth and I am trying to introduce her to solid foods. She still prefers her bottle, but I am slowly changing her over to eating from a dish. For the moment she gets half milk and half gravy from cat food in her bottle. I have tried putting her in a litter box, but so far she just hasn't got a clue ! ! Hopefully that will change as she gets older. I wish one of her siblings had survived as they would now be playing with each other and providing much needed exercise and interaction. She currently spends her nights in her "nest" and much of the day she spends confined to the guest bathroom where she can at least roam around and explore. She has a bath under the faucet in the kitchen sink and despite what they say about cats hating water, she seems to have gotten used to it. We take her outside in the sun to dry.
Anyway, now you know what I have been up to. I will post more photos as she grows and let you know how I do with trying to teach her the things that a mother cat would do. Not sure how successful I will be, but we will see ! !
