From left to right: Piper, Penny (pending), Testuggine (Ginny for short), Prince & Pascal
Jennifer has past experience with fostering kittens and she decided to get this batch as a project to take our minds off the boredom, and maybe show me how it’s done. The photo above is a mixed family: the orange tabbies were adopted by the mama cat (Roxy) because the original mother either abandoned them or people grabbed them foolishly instead of letting her come back. Currently, the goal is make sure these five little stinkers gain weight on a daily basis and stay warm; kittens can’t regulate their body temperature until they’re at least a month old.
Matters with Prince and Piper were touch and go. Neither really wanted to eat much. Prince barely made an effort to feed too. He has turned around finally with the combination of a tube shoved into his tummy and antibiotics. Piper needed further effort. Today, I saw all five successfully nursing. In the next couple weeks, they’ll be more dependent upon slurry (canned cat food with more water). Roxy’s biological offspring: Penny (this has to change, there’s another kitty in the shelter with the name, I’m open to suggestions), Pascal and Testuggine (Italian for ‘tortoise’) are on schedule as they speed toward 500 grams by the week’s end.
When they all reach at least eight weeks of age, they will be ready for their Forever Homes, Roxy can be spayed to prevent further mishaps and get the equivalent of her children.