I am clueless..or am I? ...Memories of Moorhead, Minnesota: A Kitten
Maybe I could take my knowledge about dogs and apply it to cats. "Snuffer" our Scottie mutt mix had a litter of puppies when we were stationed in Florida. I assisted with the birthing, basically I was there for moral support, encouragement and bringing clean towels and chicken broth. Snuffer was such a good mom, her instincts took over, she knew what to do and when. Trica who was just one year old would join me in watching all the puppies. We watched Snuffer and her puppies for hours...it was better than television! Are dogs that different from cats in how they care for their young?
We would need something to feed this kitten..well I had milk in the refrigerator. Something to deliver the milk to the tiny, tiny mouth. An eyedropper. We warmed the milk and tried to feed this poor orphaned kitten, one drop at a time. It was a messy ordeal, the kitten was not very happy, it sneezed.. it choked..it tried to suck on the end of hard old eyedropper. We wrapped it tightly in a towel with only it's head sticking out, and were able to get enough milk down it's throat to calm it down. Either that or it was simply exhausted. It's head was wet we dried it off with a blow dryer. The girls found a box and a heating pad covered with a towel to keep the kitten warm.
Whew..so far so good, the girls were encouraged, so encouraged they wanted to know if they could keep the kitten. They bantered back and forth with Far Guy, they cried, they cried some more. Finally they got the best of him and he declared very loudly "Fine. IF it lives you can keep it." I was shocked, he doesn't like cats and now he says that the girls can keep this tiny little motherless creature? With those words he has sentenced me to becoming the mother to a cat. As if I didn't have enough to do already, but I am sure it will be dead by morning. Later Far Guy told me it would be a miracle if it survived.
I knew one thing, if food goes in.. something must come out. Everything must move along, if it doesn't we have a big problem. I took a towel and cut it into small squares, I used those scraps of towel wet with warm water to massage it's bottom much like the mother cat would have done..low and behold it peed...hooray for pee!It was a long night of eyedropper feedings and peeing. Everyone is asleep except of course the kittens new mother. I am exhausted, I am awakened to the girls hollering "Mom it's still alive, and we think it's hungry." Wonderful.
After I got the girls off to school, I got on the phone. Veterinarians in town are on my list. I explain the situation, orphaned one day old kitten..complete with umbilical cord. Well it was not good news. Call after call the result was the same..the kitten will die..It's not worth the effort..bring it in and we will euthanize it for you. I called the Humane Society after they opened at eleven..certainly they could send me in the right direction. I was told not to bring it to the shelter because they were not equipped to handle such a young kitten. DUH? I am not equipped either. Come on people please give me something..ideas, tips, hints.. a clue..anything. In total frustration I finally called the Veterinarian in our hometown ninety miles away. He is a kind man, he was sympathetic but said "Mother nature will take it's course and the kitten will die." I said "That's not good enough I need help, and I need it now." It is a good thing that this man knows me well, he offered one bit of advice..find a wet nurse. He was not optimistic and wished me the best of luck. ( 25 years later he is still our Vet.)
A wet nurse.. another mama cat that would accept the kitten as her own. Maybe. Locating it's own mother, was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I was already working on the haystack, I had instructed the girls to ask all their classmates at school, maybe someone had a mama cat, or actually had the proper mama cat.
I spent the rest of the day, feeding. peeing and pooping for that orphaned kitten. I stroked it, held it close and prayed. Most of my conversation with God went like this.. OK God..you sent me this kitten..now show me some way to help it live so my little girls hearts aren't broken. God are you paying attention??? More tomorrow:)
Showing posts with label Kitten. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kitten. Show all posts
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A Kitten
One chilly Autumn night in 1983 things changed... Memories of Moorhead Minnesota: A Kitten
Jennifer was eight and Trica was eleven, they were outside playing after supper at 5'o'clock. We were very structured back then supper was at 5 and there were no excuses for missing it. I worked nights and Far Guy worked days, if I left for work before five, supper was in the oven or ready to be reheated at the appropriate time. It was the only time of day that we could possibly be together as a family.
The girls came bursting into the house hollering "Mom, Dad come quick!" Not exactly the words that have a calming effect on any parents. "Look what we found !" I am afraid to look. Holy Cats! It is alive! Breathlessly they explain that Jen saw something in the gutter outside on the city street. They are grinning from ear to ear as they extend their treasure. A teeny, tiny newborn kitten. So teeny tiny it still has it's umbilical cord attached, it hangs sadly from it's wet cold little body. It is alive and squeaking. The girls look at me with those sad doe eyes as they say "Mom, you have to help it." Far Guy says "It's a goner." The girls burst into tears. They showed him exactly where they found the kitten and they all walked around the neighborhood searching for the Mama cat, who had obviously just given birth to the squalling little wet creature that I now held in my hands.
No Mama cat could be found, No one had seen a cat or kittens. No one knew of any pregnant cats either.
It was getting dark, Far Guy and the girls came back home. In the meantime I had dried off the kitten and warmed it up. It was so tiny, it weighed maybe 5 or 6 ounces, it was a kitten of three colors, black, white and tan. The girls wanted to know if I thought it was a boy or a girl? It really didn't matter, there was no way this kitten was going to live without a mother. The girls took turns holding it admiring how cute it was, talking to it softly saying "It will be okay, we will take care of you."
Time for a family meeting. How do you explain the laws of nature to two little girls that have fallen head over hills in love with something they found in the gutter. It certainly would have died if they had not found it. They were convinced that they saved it from certain death in the street. If they had left in there in the street untouched would the mama cat have come back for it? We will never know. Our problem at hand was impressing upon the girls that this kitty had ZERO chance for survival. Far Guy finally told them flat out "It will die." Which of course brought them to tears, which of course brought me to tears. The water works are really flowing now. the girls are sobbing, I am trying hard to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from sobbing with them. Far Guy reminds us all "We are dog people, have you girls forgotten that?" Yes, momentarily we have forgotten everything rational.
"Mommy can't you do something? It is so little and all alone." The girls were pleading with me to do something. "Could we feed it? It looks hungry." Could we? But what and how? I gently explained that I knew next to nothing about baby kittens. Sure we had barn cats on the farm but those mama cats would hide their baby kittens and did not bring them out to meet us until their eyes were opened, and they could walk and play and hiss. If we accidentally discovered a litter of kittens the mama cat would move them to a different hiding spot. I never got to see the how and what of the process concerning newborn kittens. . I am clueless..or am I ? More tomorrow:)
Jennifer was eight and Trica was eleven, they were outside playing after supper at 5'o'clock. We were very structured back then supper was at 5 and there were no excuses for missing it. I worked nights and Far Guy worked days, if I left for work before five, supper was in the oven or ready to be reheated at the appropriate time. It was the only time of day that we could possibly be together as a family.
The girls came bursting into the house hollering "Mom, Dad come quick!" Not exactly the words that have a calming effect on any parents. "Look what we found !" I am afraid to look. Holy Cats! It is alive! Breathlessly they explain that Jen saw something in the gutter outside on the city street. They are grinning from ear to ear as they extend their treasure. A teeny, tiny newborn kitten. So teeny tiny it still has it's umbilical cord attached, it hangs sadly from it's wet cold little body. It is alive and squeaking. The girls look at me with those sad doe eyes as they say "Mom, you have to help it." Far Guy says "It's a goner." The girls burst into tears. They showed him exactly where they found the kitten and they all walked around the neighborhood searching for the Mama cat, who had obviously just given birth to the squalling little wet creature that I now held in my hands.
No Mama cat could be found, No one had seen a cat or kittens. No one knew of any pregnant cats either.
It was getting dark, Far Guy and the girls came back home. In the meantime I had dried off the kitten and warmed it up. It was so tiny, it weighed maybe 5 or 6 ounces, it was a kitten of three colors, black, white and tan. The girls wanted to know if I thought it was a boy or a girl? It really didn't matter, there was no way this kitten was going to live without a mother. The girls took turns holding it admiring how cute it was, talking to it softly saying "It will be okay, we will take care of you."
Time for a family meeting. How do you explain the laws of nature to two little girls that have fallen head over hills in love with something they found in the gutter. It certainly would have died if they had not found it. They were convinced that they saved it from certain death in the street. If they had left in there in the street untouched would the mama cat have come back for it? We will never know. Our problem at hand was impressing upon the girls that this kitty had ZERO chance for survival. Far Guy finally told them flat out "It will die." Which of course brought them to tears, which of course brought me to tears. The water works are really flowing now. the girls are sobbing, I am trying hard to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from sobbing with them. Far Guy reminds us all "We are dog people, have you girls forgotten that?" Yes, momentarily we have forgotten everything rational.
"Mommy can't you do something? It is so little and all alone." The girls were pleading with me to do something. "Could we feed it? It looks hungry." Could we? But what and how? I gently explained that I knew next to nothing about baby kittens. Sure we had barn cats on the farm but those mama cats would hide their baby kittens and did not bring them out to meet us until their eyes were opened, and they could walk and play and hiss. If we accidentally discovered a litter of kittens the mama cat would move them to a different hiding spot. I never got to see the how and what of the process concerning newborn kittens. . I am clueless..or am I ? More tomorrow:)
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