No more fleas! They were crawling with them, alive in them. I love killing fleas.
The little boy wasn't doing that well. He has such a severe sinus cold. I had taken yesterday to giving him sub cu fluids and kitten nutrical since he couldn't and wouldn't eat with such congestion. KATA took them to the vet, something I could not afford, so I'm happy I handed them over.
But I didn't do so until I used the two girls, who are quite robust, to catch their mom. Yup, kittens as bait.
I was over in Corvallis with the two girls for this purpose by 6:30 a.m. I felt good again, useful, helping cats and people too. I had my coffee. I had the kittens in a carrier. I had a live trap. Back in my element.
Didn't take very long either. I put the carrier with the kittens behind the set trap. I draped the carrier and the back of the trap with a towel, then went inside for more coffee with the feeder woman. Maybe 40 minutes it took with Dweezel, the little black mom, back and forth, trying to decide what to do.
Then came a particularly loud kitten cry from inside the carrier. "I want to go see if they're ok," I said, "can you imagine a mother hearing that?" She had heard it and wasn't ten minutes after that I heard the trap slam shut and she was caught.
Once back at my place and in a big cage in my bathroom, however, her motherly instincts seemed to vanish. I put the kittens into the cage and they tried to make up with her and nurse but she would not roll on her side or even look their way. She was angry she had been tricked using them.
Besides, the kittens had decided I was their mom. They came to the cage door crying for me. I felt guilty and tried to push them towards their real mom. But they only had eyes for me and my KMR.
So the KATA volunteer came and took them. I was relieved. She's more experienced with bottle babes and has way fewer cats than I and they got to get checked by a vet.
I get way too attached to bottle babes. Plus I don't do well without my ZZZZZ's. Nothing can mess me up like bottle babying.
Mom's still with me in the cage too big for my bathroom, but that's ok. Thursday she's getting spayed, at Heartland. The feeder woman and her friends will pay for it. She can go back home on Saturday. It's all good.
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| Dweezel, the little black mom of the three tiny kittens |
Yay! After I fed kitties, scooped boxes, washed dishes, drank coffee, this is great morning news! I'm so glad you and the kittens have supportive care. I hope the kittens pull through.
ReplyDeleteYou are a tough chick crawling under a dog poop stinky porch to get the kittens and mom. :-)
Thank you!
Thanks Autumn. I didn't have to crawl under anything, just lay on very dirty dead lawn to try to see under a very expansive deck to locate the kittens and then afterwards to lay on the decks' edge to reach under it, to get the kittens. I have joints that lock now, like finger joints and knee joints, and don't easily unlock. But I'd still crawl into a crawlspace if need be, or under anything. I enjoyed doing that. I remember going through crawlspaces so small I'd have to squish one breast up to fit in, then the other.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that black mama - and so grateful that you have improved her life. Immeasurably. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, EC, she is very petite, with a classic Siamese face and ears. There has been a lot of Siamese blood in that colony, and one of her kittens, Siamese. The Siamese kitten was fat and healthy, whereas her two black kittens, not so much (now doing well), so I have to wonder if the little Siamese girl got favored.
ReplyDeleteAfter I hit the "give" button, I sent it to facebook hoping my friends will donate. This is the best way to insure the money goes to the animals and not an administrative staff.I used to work for the Rescue League and I was much more "active" than the law would allow. lol. But the horrors live with me.
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