DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT

When I was given this batch to foster, I was told to watch over Viper, the smallest (or the runt if you will) of the batch. He was smaller and definitely seemed more fragile than his siblings. He didn't eat nearly as much as his brother and sister did when it came to feeding time and he never seemed to suckle very long on his mother either.

Well, after a few too many days of not eating or drinking as much as he should have, it ended up culminating into a very scary 24 hours for me when I found him Saturday morning all dazed, barely able to walk or focus his eyes on me and seemed very dehydrated.

I called *VOKRA right away and rushed him to the Operations Centre where I met Karen, the President of VOKRA. She gave him a bunch of medications and fluids (a bit too many for me to remember or even list) and it brought him back a bit, although he was still very lethargic. I was sent home with some critical care food, drops and medication. Viper seemed to do better that afternoon and into the evening, but seemed to take a turn for the worst after I gave him his drops just before midnight. He threw up almost immediately afterwards and a couple more times after that and proceeded to go limp, with his eyes half opened. 

It was an extremely frightening sight.

Although it was midnight, I made an emergency call into VOKRA and Karen called me back shortly afterwards. I gave her details of the situation, but Karen and I did not know what else we could do for Viper. He was breathing, but not responsive. Karen told me that if he was crying or whimpering in pain, then I would have to take him to the 24-hour vet and get further instructions from her after they assessed Viper. However, Viper was not crying or meowing at all ... he just seemed, well ... out of it.

So, I told Karen that I would stay up all night with Viper and give her a status report in the morning.

I then took Viper to my room, squeezed him into one of my micro fiber socks to keep him warm and laid him on a towel next to me in bed and I watched over him most of the night, ensuring that I had my hand on him to keep him warm and watched that he was still breathing. He would make a few sounds throughout the night, like little sighs and meows but never moved more than an inch or two all night.

At about 8 am, my husband said that Karen emailed me with this simple question: "Did he make it?"

I woke up to find Viper still breathing (*thank goodness*) and proceeded to get up to hand feed him his critical care food and give him warm water via a syringe. I proceeded to do this every hour until he gained back some strength.

I am happy to report that by late afternoon, he was wobbling around and playing with his brother and sister and by late evening he was back to his cute, adorable self.

All night, while I was looking after Viper, I had this feeling that it was not his time to leave us and I kept giving him good vibes and thoughts when I was caressing him. You can say I was almost willing him to stay alive.

Such a little fighter he is!

Viper looking so much better

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

LIGHT WEIGHT

My current batch of now 4.5 week old kittens seem smaller than batches that I've had before, so I weighed them.

Viper is the lightest at 12.8 ounces, with Porsche at 13.4 ounces and Firebird at the heaviest at an even pound. Although the difference in weight is one tenth of a pound, you can definitely feel the difference when you pick each kitten up.

The quickest way to fatten these little guys up is to get them eating solid food. Porsche was already eating solid food along side her mom when they arrived, but I had to put food directly into Viper`s mouth in the hopes that he would continue eating from the bowl (which he did ... eventually). Firebird protested for the first few days and just spat out what I put into his mouth, but today there was progress! All the kittens were eating solid food. I guess they must have been really hungry.

It will be a couple of weeks before I start weaning the kittens off Mommy`s milk and have them eating only solid food.

Sometimes though, I wish they would just stay this small ... they are so much fun to play with at this age and size. And the cute little looks they give me are so heartwarming!

Porsche and Viper

Firebird

Viper giving me a quizzical stare

Although Shelly may look like she`s just pissed right off at me in this shot, her coloring and ear fluff just makes her look that way. She is a very loving, affectionate kitty and is constantly kneading the floor and purring when I talk to her from my seat.

Not mad at all

Shelly needs some fattening up too as most of my family members have commented on how they could feel the back of her spine when they pet her. I guess I`ll need to make a trip to Superstore to get her some roasted chicken!

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

BATCH #10

*VOKRA is overflowing with mother cats and kittens (as we are smack dab in the middle of kitten season). So, as soon as hubby and I returned from our holidays, we put in our availability notice and was rewarded with our 10th batch of kittens.

The "Sports Car" batch:

Mommy Shelly is a 1-year old long-haired tortoiseshell, while her 4-week old kittens are: Firebird (ginger tabby), Viper (tuxedo) and Porsche (lynx-point Siamese). Shelly and her kittens are very, very social. They are not shy at all. Even if they were shy, with the onslaught of my family and friends coming over to play, cuddle and kiss them all, they would learn very quickly not to be shy of humans.

Oh, and did I mention how darn CUTE they are ?!?!

Pontiac "Firebird"

Dodge "Viper"

"Porsche" Carrera

The contrasting colors in this batch is absolutely gorgeous

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

BYE-BYE BATCH #9

It is always my intention to foster a batch of kittens until each one of them finds a new forever home. However, this does not always happen due to planned holidays or work-related travel plans.

With Batch #9, I had them all ready to be adopted out at 8 weeks of age. I had all their pictures taken and their bios written and uploaded to the *VOKRA website.

VOKRA has now changed their policy with respect to the age of adoptable kittens, from 8 weeks to 10 or 11 weeks. You see, all kittens were previously vaccinated up to 8 weeks old, but many kittens were having severe reactions to their vaccinations. So, VOKRA now waits until the kittens are 10 weeks old before they are vaccinated and their fosters must ensure that the kittens have not reacted adversely to their vaccinations. VOKRA wants to ensure that all kittens are healthy and happy before they are given to their new homes.

So, with the added weeks, the timing ran into our planned anniversary/birthday boat cruise and we were forced to transfer Trig and her 6 kittens to another set of VOKRA fosters. Believe me, hubby and I discussed the possibility of cancelling our plans so that we could stay home to continue fostering this batch, but it wasn't just any anniversary cruise that we would have been cancelling - it was our 20-year wedding anniversary, so we reluctantly decided to keep our plans intact.

I'm going to miss these little guys! I hope they all find wonderful, loving homes.

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/