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| Newborn from neighbors porch! "Got milk?" |
So, for some reason or another, the universe has decided that I am the neighborhood "crazy cat lady"!!! (which is kind of weird considering I'm really more of a dog person!) It all started on Monday when the neighbors to the north of me came pounding on the door wanting to know if I wanted to come get a momma cat and kittens out of their boat or just have them call animal control. Well... softy me, says, lets move the kittens to a safe place (my porch for starters) so that momma can relocate them to a better place from there. The stray momma is very feral and not at all approachable, but has been eating the food that we put out on our porch for one of the other stray cats, so she is familiar with our porch and the safety of it, however, it is not a safe place for wee ones because we also have wild raccoon and opossums and fox and even bobcats in the back. Anyways, so we moved said kittens, in front of momma so she could see.... however, she got spooked and went down into the hull framing of the boat. I put the kittens on the porch and would make sure ever so often to stir them up a bit so they would make some noise so that momma would come to them. She did so, eventually and took one of the babies to go relocate. However, she did not return that day, in the evening we were really worried that the coons would get them, but, they made it thru the night unharmed. The next day again, we see the mom, but she is not responding to her kittens cries. She even went up to the crate.... sniffed and then walked casually away and into the back never to come back again. Again they made it thru the evening, but by noon, I decided to take them in and "foster" them so that they didn't starve to death. I called around and left emails with rescues looking for a nursing momma that maybe could take them in but had no luck. I did finally get a call back from a lady who came and gave them shots to help hydrate them and explained a few things and helped us get to know what to do. She had a new momma kitty who had just given birth right before she came over but that momma kitty couldn't take on three 12 day old kittens. (understandable) So... bottle feeding and caring for three adorable, active little buggers. They are doing great. THEN.....
This afternoon, my OTHER neighbor sends her yard man over with a little black furry thing in the palm of his hand. His words were, "I found it on the porch by itself, she said to bring it to you." --- my response... Oh My... uh... uhm... okay. he says, "she allergic to cats." Oh boy, so this little furry thing turns out to be maybe 24 to 48 hours old... at most. Seems active, pooed immediately, so... I call the rescue lady with the new momma kitty. She comes and gets the baby! Whew... that crisis averted.... NOT.... three hours later, neighbor lady (who is handicapped by the way) says, her dog is acting weird and won't come in and is attentive to a folded up beach chair on her back porch, and that maybe there is another baby! At this point I am really hoping for this NOT to be the case. BUT... to no surprise, I found a baby, poor little wee one was very cold, not too active and honestly, I didn't know if it would make it an hour longer. SO... I call the rescue lady back, she can't help this time, says that the other one is doing very good but that the little momma kitty is all full with her litter and two rescues. SO... now what ever do I do with this wee little approx. 36 hr old kitten.
So here I am in the later hours of the evening... turning into the early hours of the morning and I'm caring for three 12 day old kittens, claws and all.... OH MY! AND.... a wee tiny little weak day old or so baby. I bet I don't sleep much tonight. The powers that be are throwing more at me than my heart can handle right now. I really hope that tomorrow I find someone with a momma with one spare teet!
Hope all this made sense. I must go feed the babies now.
UPDATE: The wee one passed in my arms early this morning. She got her wings. The other three are doing great... I must try and nap now.
This afternoon, my OTHER neighbor sends her yard man over with a little black furry thing in the palm of his hand. His words were, "I found it on the porch by itself, she said to bring it to you." --- my response... Oh My... uh... uhm... okay. he says, "she allergic to cats." Oh boy, so this little furry thing turns out to be maybe 24 to 48 hours old... at most. Seems active, pooed immediately, so... I call the rescue lady with the new momma kitty. She comes and gets the baby! Whew... that crisis averted.... NOT.... three hours later, neighbor lady (who is handicapped by the way) says, her dog is acting weird and won't come in and is attentive to a folded up beach chair on her back porch, and that maybe there is another baby! At this point I am really hoping for this NOT to be the case. BUT... to no surprise, I found a baby, poor little wee one was very cold, not too active and honestly, I didn't know if it would make it an hour longer. SO... I call the rescue lady back, she can't help this time, says that the other one is doing very good but that the little momma kitty is all full with her litter and two rescues. SO... now what ever do I do with this wee little approx. 36 hr old kitten.
So here I am in the later hours of the evening... turning into the early hours of the morning and I'm caring for three 12 day old kittens, claws and all.... OH MY! AND.... a wee tiny little weak day old or so baby. I bet I don't sleep much tonight. The powers that be are throwing more at me than my heart can handle right now. I really hope that tomorrow I find someone with a momma with one spare teet!
Hope all this made sense. I must go feed the babies now.
UPDATE: The wee one passed in my arms early this morning. She got her wings. The other three are doing great... I must try and nap now.
