I just went upstairs to check on the family and feed mom and noticed in the corner of the room- Ava! I picked her up and she was so cold. I tucked her into my blouse and brought her downstairs. She wasn’t moving much- I hadn’t been upstairs since 8:00- I gave her a bit of my coffee and some KARO and she is moving around now. I just fed her and put her in with Castaway. It is very telling to me that even when I put the two kittens together, they move apart rather than snuggling with each other. Either one of them is ill or they both are. I have them in a very small, heated cage now in the living room. Feeding them a mixture of baby food (turkey) and KMR. We will see how it goes.
I went to check on Marlow and she seems quite content with her 3 remaining kittens. They were all nursing and when I peeked my head into the cupboard, Mother hissed and swatted at me- but they look fine and healthy. Time will tell I guess as to what happens next.
I miss my Prowler girl. She was my orange polydactyl and she would accept any orphaned kitten or comfort the sick ones. I lost her over 7 years ago and miss her every day. 🙁
*Later note- I put pure vanilla extract on both kittens and now they are snuggling together. In my opinion, Ava looks quite sad in this photo-
Oh, no! I hope these little ones are not sick.
Purrrrring that Ava and Castaway are just small and hungry, and not sick.
We hope this is Marlow just trying to save the ones she thinks she can, and not something more ominous.
I think Ava looks sad too. I guess you’ll have to fill in for mom. Babies know their mama though, and they know when they’ve been shunned. Here’s hoping that you will be able to pull them through. They are very beautiful.
That’s interesting about the vanilla extract. Where did you apply it? How much? What is it supposed to do?
Pure vanilla extract is used on cats when they are responding to alien smells on each other; if the kitty gets outside for a few days, tangles with another cat, goes to the vet. I also use it when I introduce cats to each other for the first time. You have to use pure extract and it is expensive but the imitation doesn’t work. You use a few drops in two places, over the nose and right at the tail head- the two places cats “greet” each other. It neutralizes their smell and you have to reapply it several times in the day initially. It makes them smell the same and allows them to get along when before they weren’t.
Very interesting. I am going to keep this information handy. I may want to use it with my new foster-cat. Thank you.