Hot Pepper Is Due Any Day Now And...

[Sleepyhead]

I left the kittens for an hour to get some rest and when I came back to check on them, Mama and the four healthy kittens were at one end of the nest, and it looks like she had pushed the little weak one away - her paw was on his head. His mouth is open and there’s clear fluid in his mouth, a lot of it. He’s still breathing but very weak. It’s 3am - there’s nowhere around here to get clear Pedialyte or goat’s milk, but I do have have some goat’s milk kefir in the fridge. It’s a pasteurized, fermented producted - like a very thin yogurt drink. Can I use this?

 

[StefanZ]

Yes you can try with this product.
Have a little karo in it too.

You can make your own emergency pedialyte
150 ml water 1 teaspoon karo or honey a trifle kitchen salt

S Sleepyhead

 

[StefanZ]

Massage him. Carry at your chest. Thus keeping actively warm.
Pray.
Talk sweetly to him sing if you can.

Be sure he is named.

 

[Sleepyhead]

This morning, we had a shock when we discovered that one of the two we thought had died last night was still alive. And the orange one seemed ever so slightly improved. We spent all morning calling every nearby vet and animal hospital, but no one could see us, so we packed everyone up to drive an hour to the closest emergency vet. I was trying to avoid this as I knew the long drive would be hot and stressful for Hot Pepper.

I wish we had come sooner, but I think the only difference it would’ve made was that euthanasia could have put an end to Tiny and Orange’s struggle sooner. They passed, on the drive up.

Prayers and thoughts for Hugo, Cleo, and Arlo, the three kittens we’ve lost, are much appreciated.

Hot Pepper and the four surviving kittens are all stable and together. I’ve asked for them to be examined in case there is something we can do to better support mama and these four in the days, weeks, months, and hopefully long lifetimes ahead.

 

[Willowy]

Aw, poor little ones. It's not uncommon in large litters but that doesn't make it less upsetting. I hope the remaining 4 will grow up big and strong. You're doing a great job, hang in there!

Did they check her for mastitis?

 

[Sleepyhead]

Hi everybody,

Mama and the four kittens with us are continuing to do well here at home.

We planned to call the kittens by the names chosen by their adoptive families once we'd paired each kitten with a family, but we gave the three lost kittens names when we realized each was unwell. It's a little hokey, but I think of it as a way to acknowledge them even though they're gone now. I buried Hugo, the little black kitten who died at home on Friday night, beneath a beautiful beech tree in our yard, and built a stone cairn over him, and laid down flowers.

I learned that there's a Catholic patroness saint of cats, Gertrude the Great, and we wanted to re-christen Hot Pepper after her. We have a soft spot for these kind of funky, clunky names that are no longer considered pretty/handsome or fashionable, plus, what a great namesake! The two female kittens - the vets confirmed my theory that the tortoiseshells are girls - we're calling Enid and Louise. The male kittens are still nameless. There's the dark red tabby, and the all-black kitten. Any ideas?

Gertrude went after our sweet dog when he came to the door of "her" room today. I was cleaning and had taken down the gate to sweep. After such a stressful day yesterday, I think Gertrude was feeling overprotective of her kittens and her space - she'd been playful and relaxed with our dog in the three weeks prior to giving birth. I think our poor dog was bewildered - he's a sweetie and did not know what to do when his new friend attacked! Thankfully, I got him out of the room and the door closed with only one scratch on his nose and another on my leg. I'm curious about any experience/tips on reintegrating the animals once the kittens are big enough to begin exploring the house. I did want to socialize them with our dog - and all of their prospective homes have dogs, too!

As for Gertrude's (Gertie Hot Pepper?) peculiar twisting-and-yowling behavior, I think it might be abdominal pain from worms. As I said earlier, our vets prescribed de-wormer when switching foods and adding probiotics did nothing for her diarrhea. However, the de-wormer is ineffective against tapeworms...and the emergency vet diagnosed that it's tapeworm. They gave us a de-wormer for tape worm to give her, and a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Hopefully she'll be tip-top once we finish these treatments.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Maybe this will help
How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog

 

[ileen]

I don't know why I didn't get any alerts on new posts for this thread over the weekend, but I'm so sorry to hear about the poor kitties. I like Trudy as a nickname for Gertrude. As for the boys, how about Ephraim, Norbert, Randall, Orville, Hoyt, Humphrey?

 

[Sleepyhead]

Enid, (f), has a home waiting.

Schmidt, (m), has a home waiting.

Zebedee, (m), we might keep.

Louise, (f), we might keep.

Hi all! The kittens will be one week old tomorrow! Enid and Schmidt have been chosen by family friends. Enid will go home with my parents’ neighbor, my “second mom,” who has two adult cats to keep her company. Schmidt will go home with a coworker, whose teenagers chose the kitten’s new name, after a favorite TV character; they have a ~2-year-old female cat to be his buddy.

Everyone else who wanted to adopt has become persnickety. One friend originally wanted two, but had her heart set on a black male kitten and is not a fan of tortoiseshells because she believes in "tortie-tude." Another wanted to adopt Gertrude but is now unsure because she doesn't want G. bouncing from home to home - nevermind that most shelter cats have probably had at least one other home before arriving at the shelter, or that G. seemed to adjust within minutes of coming home with us.

I’m a little grumpy that everyone is getting a bit hung-up on the kittens’ sexes and coat colors, rather than that ALL of them will be healthy and well-socialized.

We are keeping one of the kittens, but we’re waiting to decide until their personalities develop, and I suppose if every potential adopter is still requesting a male as they get older, we’ll probably keep Louise. She’s now second-largest! She “leap-frogs” Zebedee and Schmidt daily for largest kitten. The difference is usually .01 grams but I still want to cheer them on as they grow. They’re starting to get roly-poly and wobble-crawl about. Unbelievable how quickly they develop! Enid, who was one of the runts at birth, is still 3/4 the size of her brothers and sisters, but doing well.

Gertrude has become kind of a wildcard with our dog. If he’s anywhere near the door to “her” room - like in our bedroom, directly across the hall, she gets right up in his face and the poor boy thinks she’s playing. If elsewhere in the house, she purrs and tries to rub against him and play. He’s confused and hesitant around her now, and we’re not wanting to chance an altercation. I just hope she relaxes as the kittens get bigger! They were such good buddies before. :/

 

[ileen]

Thanks for the photos, keep 'em coming. Schmidt is a character on the show New Girl.

 

[Sleepyhead]

Ileen, I thought that might be the Schmidt they were referencing, but I’ve been living under a rock when it comes to TV and haven’t seen more than the first couple seasons. I think it’s a cute reference. I bet this kitten will grow up just as handsome as his namesake.

 

[ileen]

That show is over now but 'Schmidt', aka Max Greenfield, is in a new one this fall The Neighbors with Cedric the Entertainer.

 

[Sleepyhead]

Saint Gertrude Hot Pepper’s kittens are opening their eyes, slowly, slowly. I noticed it when at their PM weigh-in after work on Thursday or Friday. Their little faces look so sad with their eyes barely open! I’ll try to get good photos of everyone tomorrow after my little guy goes to daycare.

Schmidt (the black male kitten) has a home, and now Bing (the red male kitten) has one too. The women adopting these guys are close friends; I love that they’ll be in touch and updating each other on what each brother cat is up to as they grow.

The family friend who was going to take the smaller tortoiseshell asked if she could take Gertie instead of her kitten. We appreciate that she was not so swept away by kitten cuteness as to overlook Gertie’s wonderful presence, and we think Gertie will love her forever home.

The two tortoiseshell girls are in limbo for another couple weeks. I think we will keep the larger one, Louise, and the smaller one, Enid, will either go to a dear friend and her boyfriend or my partner’s buddy who just lost his elderly cat last spring, too.

We’ll be going to the Maine Coon breeder’s house this weekend to pick our kitten from the litter. They’re not old enough to come home but we get to meet them. There’s a female brown/black tabby and a male red silver tabby we have our eyes on. I’m nervous about potentially having two female cats in the house, while my partner thinks the size difference between a male MC and a likely-petite tortie DMH would cause tense relations.

 

[Sleepyhead]

I spent some time with Gertie and the kittens today while my partner had our son and our dog out of the house. It was nice to some unhurried time with them, and I’m extra glad I did because I noticed something we definitely don’t want going unnoticed: FLEAS! I called the vets’ office but it was after-hours. They’ll call back tomorrow with a treatment plan that’s safe and effective for both mama and kittens. I couldn’t actually find any fleas on any of them, but saw the one bug and flea dirt on their bedding. Yuck!

 

[Sleepyhead]

^Louise at 2 weeks!

^Schmidt at 2 weeks!

^Bing at 2 weeks!

If anyone knows anything about the odds of their being long-/medium-haired vs. short-haired, we’re still guessing. Bing seems to have extra thick, fluffy fur, so I’m guessing he’ll have longer fur like Gertie. Schmidt seems a tidbit sleeker, as do the girls, but since their coat color obviously came from their mama, I assume they’ll be med-long-haired like her, too. What are the odds all four will have long fur?

 

[Sleepyhead]

Hey all! The kittens are three weeks old today and beginning to walk! Their eyes are open and they’re very vocal when we handle them. We found fleas on Friday and have been in flea-eradication mode - but I think we got all of the nasty little bugs for now.

We got to meet our Maine Coon kitten last weekend and are super-excited to bring her home in five weeks, once Gertie Hot Pepper and the kittens go to their new families.

Still guessing as to who is long-haired and who is short. Time will tell, though.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Can you keep the kittens and mom together a bit longer? They really should not be separated and rehomed before 10-12 weeks at least.

 

[Sleepyhead]

There are a number of factors contributing to our decision to send the kittens to their new homes after 8 weeks, not the least of which is the go-ahead given by our vet, the adopters’ vets, and the rescue coordinating the kittens’ pre-adoption vet. care. We’re doing our level best for these creatures and that’s all any of us can do. We’ve taken in a stray, rushed her to the vet with labor complications, supplemented fading kittens to try to save them, de-wormed and de-flead, and found responsible, loving homes all in the first three weeks. We’ve spent a pretty penny and re-arranged our house and our schedules to give them a safe place full of everything they need. We’ve e-mailed and called and visited vets, read articles and asked other cat owners to get up to speed on kitten care. Re-homing at 8 weeks is not ideal, not what we originally planned, and not a decision we made lightly.

 

[Willowy]

There have been actual scientific studies done on the subject:
Delayed weaning reduces behavioural problems in cats

Most people are unaware, we mean no harm in mentioning it .

 

[talkingpeanut]

I am not criticizing; I am making a suggestion based on current guidelines. A lot of vets have outdated information.

It’s true that the kittens will survive if separated once they are on solids, but it’s a matter of whether they will thrive and become well-adjusted adults.

I believe we have had thoughtful conversations in the past, but apologies if I am offending you in some way.