The diarrhea has stopped thank the Lord due to a combination of the pureed rice added to their food as well as the addition of FortiFlora the probiotic recommended by the feline specialist. But, I see the problems these CH kittens will face in the future when they are in the litterpan. Tilt has no control and the minute he steps on the litter, he starts going. He doesn’t dig a hole or place himself and he turns around and around while the stool gets plastered all over his legs and paws and tails and the sides of the pan. He always needs a butt bath afterward.

Stash has the same problem and the stool is a continuous loop of stool, not the normal type of stool that most kittens pass.

But they are a delight and they snuggle with Papa at night and keep him company. They are gaining weight. Tilt now weighs just as much as Franklin, Franklin weighs 1 lb 5/8 oz and Tilt now weighs 1 lb. 3/4 oz so I am encouraged.

I know it is June but we woke up to fog this morning! Fog of all things in June! Geesh~

Well time to scoop litter pans- anyone care to help? LOL

This photo was not posed- it was all accidental-though I wonder if anyone can catch the “oops!”

The three kittens have been seen by my feline specialist and diagnosed with several levels of Cerebellar Hypoplasia. In English; momcat likely had become exposed to feline distemper and since the brain stays open a great deal of time when the kittens are in utero, the brain is the first organ to become diseased. So, it looks like feline distemper has once again raised its ugly head.

This time, it is not the deadly form of the disease (thank You Lord) but a milder form of it- effecting the motor skills of the three. The little mack tabby, she has it the worst. I have decided to call her Tilt because she tilts her head to one side and when she falls over, she always falls on her left side.

The golden boy- Franklin has problems with where the ground really is located. He walks softly almost like walking on eggshells. The tortie girl- Stash has the least of the symptoms for now, but I have been told that as they develop, they might present with other issues.

So- they are here now and cute as a bug but they do have issues. But, then don’t we all?

Here is Tilt

My bedroom has the pitter patter of little paws at the moment as I have just re-rescued 3-4 week old kittens. They were the ones initially found under a porch with the people were freaking about how to take care of them. The momcat was a stray (or so I have been told) I had passed them off to another rescuer, but she is overwhelmed by the reponsibility and “flying solo” So after several phone calls and emails of concern from her, I just told her I would take the kittens for awhile. Yes, they have diarrhea with streaks of blood in it- typical of a load of parasites, so I have wormed them. I am also giving them Albon just in case and extra Karo syrup for the one mackeral boy who is a bit inactive. They are eating and using the litter pans and drinking from the pet fountains, so all is good.

There is a sweet orange boy, a tortie/gray girl and a mackeral tabby boy. The boy, I have concerns with. His head is larger than his body, he keeps tilting his head to the left and then almost falls over. He also when he uses the litter pan- yes, they are on soft food and using the pans- he will lift up his rear leg and then fall over. I don’t know if he has been stepped on, or what, but the vet didn’t find anything neurologically wrong with him. In the event he is hyperglycemic- I have given him some Karo syrup.

This is Stash

I know she is under there. I see the tip of her tail as she vanishes into the darkness. In the mornings, when I put out food and step away, moments later, the two little white paws appear and the food disappears.

I lay the trap out and sprinkle kitty litter around the base before putting the food inside. When checking the trap, I see her pawprints in the sand, circling the trap in wide angles, calculating how to get to the food inside without venturing inside the trap. Sometimes, the bowl is turned upside down, evidence that she has tapped the dish in a quest for the food.

Quite puzzling really, her reluctance to approach me, because when she lived inside (she got out quite by accident three weeks ago) she was the type of kitty that couldn’t get enough pets and rubs. But, she is also my pariah kitty and picked on by all the cats including the new kittens. I’ve never seen anything quite like it- something about her body language, her smell? Her behavior, sets them off and they pommel her around the room. When she made her entrance into a room, she would do so cautiously. Ducking first behind the heater, then finding refuge behind the drapes, always looking around for where the resident cats were so she wouldn’t get challenged. Her objective; always my lap.

So, against my better judgement and because I have no other choice- I let Mercedes be the invisible kitty living under the house.

The other day my phone rang and the gentleman on the other end told me about three kittens (quite young) found underneath his porch when the family returned from the holiday weekend. Knowing that I couldn’t take them, I made a phone call to the gal who wants to rescue and told her about them. I told her that one seemed to appear sickly to the family and they were worried about them, that they were about 4 weeks old and that is all I knew. She agreed to take them, and I went to pick them up- and oh my goodness! What cuties! A mackeral tabby girl, an orange boy and this other little gal who wants to be a tortie but smoke got in the way! I have never seen a cuter kitten- she has smoke and chocolate brown in her coat, intermixed with grays and the colors of a tortie- oh she is a doll! They looked okay for the short ten minutes I spent with them, although the mackeral tabby was very vocal all the way to the rescuer’s house.

When I returned home later that evening from work- there was a message that I call no matter what time. It was approaching midnight, but I called and I listened to the symptoms the mackeral tabby was displaying. She was smaller than the others- she wasn’t eating much and hadn’t pooped or peed. Several alarm bells went off when she said that the little gal was shaky, it wobbled when it walked and when it shook its head, she would fall over. Sure sounds like Wobbly Kitten to me- and this neurological disorder is no joke. Although initially it might look cute when kittens display these symptoms, once confirmed by a vet that it is wobbly kitten, the kindest act you can perform is to put the kitty to sleep. As it grows, it will slowly lose function of its motor abilities and this also includes the evacuation of the bowels. These cats are unable to hold their urine and poop and will let loose wherever they may be. Owners are usually so frustrated, that some will confine the cats to live in a cage in the garage or on the patio and that is no life for a cat.

She will be dropped off at the vets today for an exam, but I have prepared the gal for the fact that the kitten might not be coming home.

We have decided from here on in, that the next call- I will keep the kittens for 48 hours observation before turning them over to her- I well remember my first times rescuing and not knowing exactly what I was doing. Second-guessing my every move and praying over each action.

Rescuing is like walking a tightrope. You never know when that rope is going to break and reality will hit you full in the face or how hard you will hit when you finally do reach the ground.