Last weekend I heard Adia and Mira giggling in the twins' bedroom before dinner. They were both camped out on Mira's bed and Adia was "reading" books to Mira. It was so sweet and a true picture perfect moment.
On Tuesday night, after all the girls were in bed, Daddy was headed to the bathroom when he heard kittens mewing. It didn't take long to realize it was coming from under our house. There was no way Daddy was going under the house at that time of night so he decided to wait until morning, when Adia would be at preschool. After I came home from dropping Adia off, Daddy suited up and headed under the house. He found the kittens and a very emaciated mother. She had been trapped down there for at least a week, if not longer. I'm guessing longer since we had sealed up the opening. After trying unsuccessfully to lure the angry mom with tuna, Daddy just scared her off and grabbed the kittens. One kitten was mewing loudly and seemed ok, the other kitten didn't look very healthy.
We believe the mom is a stray. We eventually coaxed her out from under the house with a can of cat food, but then she bolted. We don't own a live trap and she won't let us get anywhere near her. We even tried putting the kittens outside for her, but she completely ignored them.
We ended up calling all over town and driving all over town, but no one wanted or would take in 2-3 week old kittens. We bought kitten formula and I attempted, rather unsuccessfully, to feed them.
We took them to the vet's office inside the Petsmart and they offered some help, but they certainly didn't want them. They took them in the back to warm them up and check them out. They gave us a few towels, a hot water bottle and a blanket to attempt to keep them warm. They told us that warmth was the absolutely most important thing. Yes, it would be bad for them to starve or get dehydrated, but staying warm was the absolute number 1 issue. We took them back home and I managed to get Tiger (the bigger, healthier one) to eat a tiny bit. As for the smaller one, he just wasn't doing well. By that point he was panting and limp. Just as I expected, he didn't last through the evening. Daddy buried him under a rhody in our yard.
As for Tiger, I was up every 3 hours with him the first night. I felt like I had a newborn all over again and woke up exhausted in the morning. I do believe I can call myself a kitty mother though. When I got up with Tiger around 3am, I placed him in my shirt to keep him warm while I warmed the milk up. I quickly smelled something rank. He'd pooped IN my shirt. I was covered and it was nasty. Cat poop smells bad on a good day, but this was a sick little kitten. Yuck! On a good note, there weren't any worms in it.
I started to get really worried about him because he was having liquid, bloody diarrhea. Daddy called the vet's office and they let us know it was normal when switching from mommy's milk to formula and try not to worry. Once again, keeping Tiger warm was the utmost importance. We diluted the formula (as instructed) and kept him warm and toasty. The diarrhea got pretty severe all afternoon, but started to get better by the middle of the night.
Daddy got up with Tiger last night, even though I had to wake him for the first feeding. He doesn't always hear the mewing, but I've already been trained. Apparently Tiger didn't want him to do the feeding. It appears Tiger has already picked his favorite and I'm his mom. He recognizes my smell and perks up when I'm around. He'd be perfectly happy snuggled against my neck or chest all day long. And to think, before him, I didn't even like cats.
This morning, Tiger had a few more instances of diarrhea, but now it's more poop than blood. I'm so very relieved. If I'm going to be spending this much attention on something, it better thrive.
The girls all love Tiger. Mira gently pets him on the head and says kitty. Leia just giggles and smiles at him, but she hasn't been too interested in petting him. And Adia thinks he's adorable. She pets him and call him her kitty, but I don't think she'll be too attached until he can really start playing. It should be soon. He already watches her with curious eyes and keeps trying to walk toward her when he's in my lap. He's going to be a frisky thing.
The twins must have started their language explosion that occurs around 2 years. They're constantly talking and responding. They both say thanks and please, usually without prompting. Mira occasionally says welcome instead of thanks. They both say: want it back, that's mine, let go, I'm stuck, get down, sit down, all done, more, cookie, waawaa for water, mama for milk. I love to hear them talk because it sounds so cute and it puts my mind at ease. Adia was talking so much at this point so I was a little concerned about them.
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