Furry Friday: the care and feeding of Hope

[mellowtigger]

Hope needs encouragement, at least in the beginning.  She seemed not to eat or drink on her own, but only while I was there with her to comfort her.  She would eat a few bites then come back to my lap for petting.  After some reassurance, she would return to the food bowl for a few more bites.  Repeat the cycle until the meal was finally done.  It was slow but dependable progress.

Sometimes, a little shit is a good thing.  I last saw Hope vomit on Thursday, the first day that she came to stay in the basement here (the day also pictured in this first photograph).  She had diarrhea too.  On Sunday I finally saw solid stool formations in the litterbox.  I guessed the dewormer and penicillin were doing some good.  Her appetite and strength have improved considerably after these milestones.

Specialized attention may still be helpful, though.  In spite of all her progress, I wasn't seeing her drink any water.  I ran a stream of water from the showerhead into the bathtub, causing a small rivulet of water to flow down the center.  After some investigation, Hope finally lapped up a few drinks of water from the stream.  I went to the store to buy one of those electric water dispensers.  It maintains the illusion of fresh running water.  After first install, Hope drank for about 20 seconds to refresh herself.  Mission accomplished.  No more worries about her recovery.

Jealousy is a many splendored thing.  T'Reese hears the mewing through the basement door, she sees me taking smelly food to the noisemaker, and she guesses that I'm spending my time doing something terribly, wonderfully interesting on the other side of that door.  T'Reese has been a lot more vocal and attentive lately when I come back up to tend to her needs too.  She's still no lap cat, but she seems to intuit that her hulking food dispenser is sharing bounty with another beast.

Hope benefits from attention.  Hope has improved so much during the last week that she's become the stereotypical energetic kitten (pictured here playing with my belt).  When I release her from behind the cardboard wall, she darts around the basement, pouncing on every dark spot in the tile floor.  I don't know yet if she recognizes me as distinct from the other humans in the household, or if I'm just her hulking food dispenser too.  Unlike T'Reese, Hope is very friendly with everyone.

While I was gone at work, one of my roommates took this video of Hope escaping her cardboard prison.  Much different from the nearly dead kitten that I saw delivered to the shelter only a week earlier.

Now, off to shower before I'm late for work this afternoon.

Comments

[foeclan.livejournal.com]

Last night during the movie, she wandered around for a while then hopped into my lap and slept. She'd occasionally wander between my lap and Lou's. She was very sweet.

[mellowtigger]

Today I was reading again the instructions I got from the foster coordinator. Apparently it might be okay to introduce the cats to each other after Monday, assuming that Hope gets a clean bill of health during her veterinary checkup that morning.

I'm still pondering the possibility of adopting Hope. It's not on my wish list, though, figuring out what to do when she goes from being that cute bundle of fluff that everyone likes to that tasmanian devil that's destroyed all of the couches and drapes. The kitten years would be a lot easier in a cinder block house with cement furniture.

[foeclan.livejournal.com]

I'm in the 'pro-kitten-adoption' camp. If you keep her claws trimmed and she has a scratching post it'll probably be fine. The furniture downstairs is fairly shred-resistant, and the furniture upstairs has survived clawed cats before.