This clinic has been very understanding about my restricted budget. They say they also do aid programs from the Comanche County Pet Resource Foundation but I haven't been able to get them on the phone so far and I'm pretty sure that org's whole admin staff is one lady. One tough lady.
Their illness was almost certainly inherited... so there's probably nothing I could've done to prevent this other than separate them from their mom, and that would create other problems requiring dedicated care and treatment.
I am exhausted but I'm gonna have to do laundry. Whoever unloaded the dryer put the bamboo fabric squares I use a kitten bedding / flea traps on upholstery. A surface that can contain fleas. In a house with a flea problem.
As a the fabric that picks up fleas, the stretchy, breathable bamboo fabric is excellent. That's why I put them on their wish list. But like, you have to make sure they're transporting what they pick up *away* from the cats so I can't just use them after they've been exposed to other flea habitats.
which means I can't change the bedding until I get some more clean ones through the laundry. And I can't go to sleep until I've changed the kittens bedding because doing that often enough is essential. And the fleas can make kittens anemic, more susceptible to everything else.
Another thing about the bamboo fabric, if you ever use it for the purposes described here, is that if you put it in the dryer hot enough to kill fleas, it will shock you when you pull it out. You have to flatten it out and discharge the static electricity. Every time.
If you, say, take it out of the dryer, and just move multiple pieces all wadded up together, they can make a spark if you're unlucky. So you also shouldn't put it on any flammable surfaces in that state at all. Definitely not, like upholstery.
As a fabric, it's pretty unique and not totally clear it can be produced ethically but the attributes that make it do what I need it to do have drawbacks. That need to be considered. Or you could roll a 1 and burn your house down.
Oh! The vet checked the gorgeous cat for microchips. She's clean. She's almost certainly nobody's, at least officially. Which is dope. We have pretty good rapport at this point.
Her level of trust in me isn't, I think, as total as it was before the saddest parts of this... uh... adventure, I guess. I don't know what to call this. Mutually beneficial partnership with a neighborhood cat. Which is now about raising happy kittens and finding them homes...
Almost eye drop time. The poor babies. I'll be ready to switch out their bedding at the same time. This works out but fuck am I exhausted from this whole... week I guess. Two weeks?
Woke up late. Had to scrub her litterbox. She got some mess up on the side. Should be like new and clean now. Their bedding is in the laundry. Running a little late on their regular today.
Momma got eyedrops. Bedding is changed and being laundered. Kittens all vocal enough to to upset by the brief movement to a secondary spot then back during that. The litterbox was something else today. She knows not how she is loved.
Just got off the phone with the vet, who actually called me back himself, glowing reviews for this guy so far, he says if they seem to be improving, and I don't notice any other trouble, they probably won't need another vet visit until about five or six weeks from now.
Updated the kittens wishlist today. They're rapidly approaching a "needing toys" stage and other disasters mean I've got everything so far set aside for the future vet stuff.
www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...
I think the reason she keeps sitting in the litterbox right now is because she knows I'll stop her.
It's become a way for her to tell me I need to come over there and fix something. Sometimes that something is the litterbox which 🤢
bsky.app/profile/redc...
the litter we had around is like, wood pellets. She doesn't get it. She keeps laying in them. She scratched at the door, and looked right at me and let out a couple little cries before she had an accident, so like... She needs a smaller box, a different type of litter, or both.
23 days old. The littlest one's has had crusted shut in the night. Got her cleaned up and her eyes open. She was a little soldier. Screaming for her mom the whole time. Happier now that she's back with the others.
Updated the kittens wishlist today. They're rapidly approaching a "needing toys" stage and other disasters mean I've got everything so far set aside for the future vet stuff.
www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...
jfc it's 10am. I woke up at six and all I've done today is empty a litterbox, vaccuum, and brush and play with a cat. She's got her energy back so I am already tired.
She loves the shoe lace. I need to get her real toys soon.
I'm gonna try to order toys today but I only really have enough for one item right now so I'm trying to pick.
Anyway, here's a reminder about her and the kittens having a wishlist:
bsky.app/profile/redc...
Updated the kittens wishlist today. They're rapidly approaching a "needing toys" stage and other disasters mean I've got everything so far set aside for the future vet stuff.
www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...
Gave them a thorough flea-brushing today. It had been about three days so overdue. There was some. Still a fairly low amount.
It's almost time for the mom's second flea drop too.
Welp. The kittens are now 43 days old. The little tabby has totally beaten the pink eye. The mom is being horny at me and wistfully looking out the window from time to time
which is telling me it's time to get her into a vet about that hysterectomy she's supposed to get as per the law of the land
limited success acclimating two of the kittens to to be lap-cats today. The little tabby is will be a wonderful lap cat but her older sister is a bit too rambunctious.
(they are 44 days old today)
Okay so, the babies. And the mom. Fascinating. Still probably not like sufficiently domesticated to be homed. Also they all still need to be vaccinated, chipped, and spayed so this is fine. I have time to iron out their. Uh. Worst impulses....
Menace. It's likely cuddly, though. Is definitely tolerant enough to be like a good cat for someone with kids, a thing I'm pretty confident I can dig up in this town
I'm definitely gonna have to get them more food and litter tomorrow... which I can do, but I am currently dealing with other financial emergencies, so, uh, you know...
Every time I let the kittens go unobserved, I panic when I can't find them until I do find them... in totally acceptable places for them to be.
Absolute angels tbh. They're doing great.
They will find *any and all* pieces of wayward trash around assume it's a toy, tho. A paper stray wrapper and a plastic candy wrapper from mysterious places. Seriously, I don't know where they found them. I vacuum. I clean.
They're tiny. They can see things I can't I guess.
They still need regular flea brushing. Had to spend $42 on them at the grocery store today as they were on the last of their food and litter, but what I found should last them another month though.
Today, I found one of them sleeping on top of their habitat... which is technically allowed. Not ideal but she wasn't in another room or hiding in a hard to reach place. Just... looked right past her a couple of times before I realized.
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Every time I let the kittens go unobserved, I panic when I can't find them until I do find them... in totally acceptable places for them to be.
Absolute angels tbh. They're doing great.
the little gray tabby has a hiding spot i don't know about. i don't like that. i swear i turned this place over for like hour.
almost had a heart attack today. still might.
Two months old as of today or yesterday depending on how you're counting. Finally got a chance to take pictures of all four them together since they started walking.
Look at my babies. Look at them!
One of them is still pretty sick but I don't know how I'm gonna get her back into the vet. Her eyes keep getting crusted shut, so I've been cleaning them every day but she needs a second course of the antibiotic eye drops. They all had the share the first bottle and I guess she didn't get enough.
she's so miserable. Another bottle of eyedrops will be $97 which is... almost everything I've got right now. If there's a appointment fee, maybe more.
I'm calling the vet to see what I can do.
oh thank god, i'm wrong. the bill from last month says the eye drops were $74. Not a huge difference but I might just be able to pay the vet fee too if it's only like thirty.
bsky.app/profile/redc...
But, on the bright side, this should be the last bottle of drops.
Georgy still has a little redness in his right eye, and Mai Bae Bee keeps trying to clean the skinny one's eye goop then has sneezing fits after, but that's about it. The little tabby seems to have beat the infection outright.
I tried to sleep but I only laid down for about two hours. Checked on the sickly one. Her eyes are so goopy, got a lot of grossness off her again. Trying to make sure she's drinking enough. Added a second dish of water just in case the others are bullying discouraging her.
