Orphaned Kitten Day 2 - Bottle Crisis

The Issue of Nursing

May 30th, 2014

 All day I've slowly been having problems using the syringe to feed our little kitten. The plunger seems to be getting stuck, this could be due to the fact that I have to wash everything in warm soapy water between each use. 

This evening however it became an issue.

I tried rubbing with my fingers, just a little bit of oil on the plunger. This worked great until I put the milk in and then it got all stuck again.

My next thought was maybe the probiotics are clogging up the walls just enough that the plunger can't move smoothly. Either way the kitten is getting stronger and more hungry, and it makes me feel terrible when I either can't push milk out slowly, or it goes so fast that I spill most of it down her pretty white fur.

This evening was in fact such a terrible feeding event that her tiny little claws came out and she proceeded to gnaw on my fingers and scratch in her attempt to drink from the syringe.

I became so upset at the fact that I ended up spilling most of it all over her, and then the plunger got stuck completely that I had to enlist the help of my wonderful husband again. We cleaned her up and decided to give the baby bottle a try again.

Now for the problem with the bottle....

She has hated it from the beginning, day 1 she was too weak to use it even though we put holes in it she just couldn't suck hard enough to get milk. We've since then offered it a couple more times and I think she just doesn't like the taste or the texture of the rubber. One lady I talked to said she was never able to get kittens to use a bottle. 

This evening however we decided to try again with some modifications. After cleaning her up we enlarged the holes - she still didn't want it and proceeded to claw at my hand for food because she could however smell the milk. Keep in mind their sense of smell is one of the first things they develop from birth.

Next we decided enough was enough, cut off the tip!!

Success!!  She now drinks from the bottle, its a much better solution - I no longer have to keep filling up the syringe and taking it from her when she empties it (she was drinking between 2 - 3 full ones at each meal), its much more natural as she can go at her own pace, also slightly less messy however she still needs to be cleaned up between each meal just like mama would do!

My husband feeding the baby.

Orphaned Kitten Day 2

She's Growing!

May 30th, 2014

Well this morning we decided to weigh her, and my kitchen scale said she weighs 259 grams about 9 ounces! 

Last night was a little different than the previous night, she slept much better and I had to wake her up to feed her (no more crying!), she also decided around 2 am that she wanted to walk around. Keep in mind she's really tiny still and mostly crawls, she's pretty wobbly on her feet but she got in some good exercise before going back to sleep. Also heard her purr for the first time! It's really quiet so you have to listen close, but it was definitely a purr!

This morning at around 6 am, my wonderful husband took over baby duty and proceeded to carry her around like a kangaroo in his hooded sweatshirt pouch while he went about his morning routine and I slept. 

Today we ended up carpooling to work so once I dropped my husband off, I headed over to my in-laws home because I had an hour to kill before going in to work myself. They were of course in love with the kitten.

I keep assuring everyone, we aren't keeping her. Just giving her a wonderful home until she is healthy enough to go to another wonderful home. We want what is best for her, but 3 cats are simply too many in my opinion.

I tend to disagree with people's choices to have more than 3 cats, unless they are siblings and grow up together. Why you might ask?

Cats are solitary creatures and like to have lots of their own room or territory, unlike dogs who are pack animals, and they tend to not like each other so they get into the occasional spats.

Its not natural for them to live together. It's not that they can't get along (I have 2 cats of my own) but every so often they have an issue and a small fight ensues. My two cats I worry might hurt or kill the kitten so we keep her separated and she's never unsupervised. But she also doesn't have a strong enough immune system to be around other cats yet.

Day 2 at work!

After breakfast nap

She sure does a lot of sleeping, i'm kind of jealous.  Being kind of tired I grabbed a dutch bros on my way to work. I thought the lid was appropriate for the kind of day i'm having so i'll share it with you guys.  It says, "Love Abounds" thanks Dutch Bros! You're a lifesaver!

And like a typical new mom - according to my girlfriend..I got out of the house with everything the baby needed and mostly got myself together in the process, hair and makeup done, but I forgot all of my jewelry. Haha!

I've also perfected how to go about feeding her, here's my setup:

I heat water in a mug in the microwave, I then place the appropriate amount of goats milk mixed with probiotics (i'm using Forti Flora the vet said half a packet per 2 ounces of milk) into a shot glass and drop it into the water to warm it up. You never want to put goats milk in the microwave as nutrients will be lost if you do.

Here you can see I have a tupperware container filled with ice surrounding the bottle of goats milk that I brought with me for feeding. I never heat all of it, only what I need and if she doesn't finish some in the shot glass or the syringe I toss it out so that she gets fresh milk every time.

Also having the warm water, it makes it easy to get her to go potty. I just dip a cotton ball into the water once it has cooled, and proceed to wipe her with it and groom her after every meal.

After looking at a few websites and determining that 259 grams is about 9 ounces, she should be eating between 56 mL and 80 mL's daily (1 cc = 1 mL), which thankfully the size of her bottle is 60 mL.

Feeding Guide

Age in Weeks	Average Weight of Kitten	Amount of Formula Per Day	Number of Feedings Per Day
1	4 ounces	32 cc	6
2	7 ounces	56 cc	4
3	10 ounces	80 cc	3
4	13 ounces	104 cc	3
5	1 pound	128 cc	3

http://www.feralcat.com/raising.html

Yesterday she ate a little over 1 bottle so we're on the right track! And we feed her until she doesn't want it anymore.

Isn't she sweet! She has gotten really good at eating from the syringe, we tried the bottle again but she didn't want anything to do with it. We're thinking that she may not like the rubber texture or how it tastes, and she's turning into quite the pig!

We're going to start weight her twice daily, morning and night because her food intake has doubled since yesterday and it will be fun to track how fast she grows.

Let me know if you have any questions or tips!

Orphaned Kitten Day 1

Things That go Bump in the Night.

May, 29th 2014

Well our first night was successful! The little baby survived although I wasn't sure I would. Even though I had my alarm set to feed her every 2 hours she insisted on waking and crying at least every hour. We had her initially snuggled up in an extra dog crate with blankets, stuffed animal (stimulates siblings) and heating pad. 

Poor baby, even though she was fed and didn't have to go potty she insisted on crying regularly during the night. She slept much better as long as I was touching her, and since my husband works longer hours than I do I ended up moving her into the guest bedroom so that I could comfort her and allow him to sleep.

It was a long night, I was too tired to think straight and ended up sleeping on the floor with my hand in her nest I had created. Every hour we were up.

I definitely have a new respect for new parents! I couldn't imagine doing this for a year or more!

At around 6 am I woke up my hubby and had him take over feeding duties so that I could get a few solid hours of sleep in before I went to work, even though this meant that I had to skip class today.

After a few hours of sleep, I took over baby duty and my husband left for the day. Now I had to figure out how to explain to my boss that she has to come with me..after giving him a call and letting him know it was both of us or neither of us, he relented all the while complaining about how we have a very important lunch meeting today (by we he means him - I'm his personal assistant). I was able to quell his fears by explaining how quiet she is and promising that he wouldn't even know that I had her with me.

The solution? A duffel bag with a shoe box inside to create structure, soft towels and heating pad under the towels.

It worked great! I just plugged her in under my desk and she slept the whole time (except when I had to wake her up to eat). At the end of the day my boss finally decided to take a look at our tiny little guest, and I was right he didn't hear her even once.  :-)  

Kitten travel bag!

She did great at work with me!

After lunch time at work

After work I ended up missing my usual gym time because I was so tired, but I also needed to go pick up some probiotics, my veterinary technician friend said that her Veterinarian recommended keeping the kitten on the probiotics until she is eating solid food.

In the evening we decided to do a switch, my husband slept in the guest bedroom with our 2 dogs while I slept in our room (door closed to keep my 2 kitties out) with the kitten on the bed in her duffel bag nest. This way I could be comfortable and feed her regularly while not disturbing him, and then we agreed that he would take over her 6 am feeding so that I could get a couple more hours of sleep in the morning.

**Please feel free to email me with questions! I am no expert but i'm happy to help if I can.**

Orphaned Kitten First Night

So My Neighbor Called....

May 28th, 2014
And she asked for the "kitten expert"...my first thoughts were "uh oh"... 

A few years ago in the last apartment that we'll hopefully ever live in, I found a couple stray kittens at our complex. Well that little endeavor turned into my husband and I working with our apartment manager to catch, vaccinate, spay/neuter, release (if they were feral) and find homes for the friendly stray cats. Proud to say that by the time we moved out, all of the cats in our area had been spay/neutered. I think we helped close to 15 cats, and we have a wonderful local vet to thank because we paid for all of it out of pocket and she gave us a great discount for the services.  

Well last night my neighbor called me over to show me what she found. A tiny fluffy white kitten!

Unfortunately the kitten was dehydrated and had been out all night - they were hoping the mama cat would come back and she didn't. So my neighbor asked if I could take her because the last thing they wanted was cat especially one so small.

Quick to act I called the local farm feed store which was closing in ten minutes, explained my predicament and asked them to wait for me.

They came through! And they had farm fresh goats milk! An excellent substitute for natural mother's milk as opposed to a powdered formula.

So I armed myself to fight for this baby's life - Here's what you need:

• Emergency feeding kit - with bottle and probiotics.
• Syringe - in case she wouldn't take the bottle.
• Goats Milk - (Apparently cows milk is really hard on a kitty's tummy, even adult cats should avoid cows milk. And a natural milk such as goat is a better option than formula.)
• Nesting Box with towels - the mother prepares a nest for her kittens that is only big enough for them to turn around in, they need to be kept warm to snuggling is key.
• Heating Pad - kittens need to be kept warm or they can suffer hypothermia

Luckily she didn't have fleas, wasn't too lethargic and she seemed relatively healthy with no breathing or eye issues. She perked right up after her first feeding.

I also immediately called a friend of mine who is a Veterinary Technician. Based on how small she is, eyes open but light sensitive, ears uncurled but not entirely upright and the fact that she sleeps all the time and crawls a little (not quite walking yet) we're estimating her to be close to 2 1/2 - 3 weeks old at the max.

She needs to be on a liquid diet and fed every 2-3 hours, and she must be stimulated to go potty.

I was also informed that sometimes kittens die for no reason at all this can be due to in-breeding. In-breeding issues can sometimes result in a healthy looking kitten that could in fact have internal issues or abnormalities. Usually the mother knows and so she will abandon the baby - hopefully that's not the case with this little one!

After my quick trip to the feed store, I arrived home just in time to meet my husband and break the news to him. He's such a great sport! Next thing I know, he has the kitten in his lap and is gently waking her up while I prepared the bottle. She refused the bottle so we ended up using the syringe to gently squirt milk into her mouth. She did a good job eating!

Another thing I learned:
Its better to feed them small quantities regularly than to over-feed them which can lead to bloating and tummy digestive problems.

And then last but not least before and after every feeding the kitten should be stimulated to go potty, and groomed gently because this is what the mother would do after feeding time.

In order to use this we used warm wet cotton balls to gently wipe her face and bottom with, another success!

Also being so tiny they are susceptible to getting sick if you aren't careful. So you want to make sure you wash your hands before and after handling the kitten, sterilizing all feeding tools after each use, and keeping her away from other animals especially cats. My friend said that since our dogs are fully vaccinated and cats/dogs don't typically share diseases they would probably be ok together. On that note, Dante and Ziva were definitely curious! Dante being older was much more calm about meeting the little kitten, Ziva on the other hand was way to excited so we couldn't allow her to be to close.

We ended up holding and snuggling her during a movie, then placed her in the nesting box I created and set my alarm for every 2 hours.

My husband with a bottle

Sleeping baby with a full tummy!

Gardening! Bringing life back to the front yard.

According to a local plant nursery, Eugene Oregon experienced the coldest winter this past season 2013 in 40 years!

I believe her, according to a weather history site the coldest day we had was Dec 8th, 2013 with a low temperature of -10*F the previous average low being 36*F. And then we had our longest cold spell from January 9th to January 25th, 17 consecutive days with cooler than average low temperatures.
Brrrrr!!   Needless to say my yard suffered a little bit with 5 of my very large gorgeous Spanish Lavender bushes dying.

In case you aren't sure what i'm talking about here is a picture of Spanish Lavender:


With the weather getting nicer I've been spending time outside trying to get my yard back to its former glory. I've been planting mostly perennials because I hate spending money on plants that die each year, other goals that I have for my yard include:

• Planting flowers - the previous homeowners planted mostly ornamental grasses. Very boring in my opinion, I left the ones that look nice and didn't stab me like these nice ornamental blue grasses:
• And planting specifically flowers that make for great cut arrangements and attract honey bees, humming birds, and butterflies.

This last weekend the weather was gorgeous so I finally took the time to finish pulling all the dead plants and prep my yard for some new flowers.
Armed only with a knowledge of common toxic plants (I don't want to get anything that could make my dogs sick!) and plant size requirements I then drove myself down to a local nursery and began my hunt!

Here is what I found!

For in front of my porch I was looking for a shade happy plant that has low sunlight requirements. My house casts quite a shadow in this particular spot and I'm constantly struggling with plants not growing very well.
The winner for this location was the acanthus mollis, a.k.a. "Tasmanian Angel" - it has large green and white mottled leaves, grows up to 3 feet tall and blooms white/purple floral spikes (they're soft to touch I checked!).


















For a very sunny location in the front corner of my yard I wanted a pretty flowering bush, so I settled on what is called Prostanthera Poorinda Bride, a.k.a. "Australian Mint Bush" - very pretty tiny creamy white blooms and it smells like chocolate!


I also put in another rosemary bush - I love these for baking!















And last but not least a Digiplexis "Illumination Flame" - this is a tall perennial that looks somewhat like a foxglove but isn't toxic as far as I'm aware.

I don't enjoy fighting tree roots while I dig but it was an overall very fun and relaxing experience.
And i'm looking forward to watching my plants grow!

Ziva surveying my work.

The Bean Wall

So last summer I built (all by myself I might add!) two planter beds that go the full length of our back deck. It was hard work, I had to dig out all of the grass and create space for where the two boxes would be and then slave away in the hot summer sun with power tools and a level in order to create the perfect custom boxes.
Last year I had a lot of fun with our garden. In the first box I placed: Roma tomatoes, beef-stake tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes (will never do these again!), and cherry tomatoes. In box number two I planted: green bell peppers, jalapenos, banana peppers, and a ton of tomatillos! We had an excellent harvest and more tomatillos than we initially knew what to do with - they make great verde!

Grab yourself a blender! You can also char the tomatillos first for a smoky taste in your salsa.
Tomatillo Verde:
8 medium tomatillo's husked, washed, quartered
1 fresh lime juiced
1 jalapeno sliced and seeds removed
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 C. fresh cilantro
pinch of salt

Blend and serve! Season to taste, add more jalapeno's if you like it hotter.

Well this year I wanted to change things up a bit, and do snow peas, and green beans (I love them fresh but hate it when they're canned!)  But more than just that, I wanted a wall of greenery to offer more shade to my deck and a slight amount of privacy from the eyes of the neighbors. -- What can I say I value my quiet time, and nothing beats a lovely summer afternoon with a daiquiri in one hand while you sit in your favorite chair soaking up the rays... Ahhh....I can picture it now...

Back to the boxes..
In the first box went the snow peas along with some cilantro and basil in the front row, the second box contains a few more snow pea plants and then a whole bunch of climbing green beans! Dante got to join me in picking out the plants at our local feed store. He was of course a charmer with all the ladies at the store.

After planting the beans, my wonderful husband helped me string twine for them to climb, from the planter box to the deck roof just under the gutters. We took the twine up and down in two sections (one for each box in case we needed to fix anything) and let mother nature work her magic with the plants.

Here is stage 1: They are starting to climb! The taller skinnier ones are the peas (located on right).

Meet My Fur-babies.

Not Your Average Mom

My husband and I don't have traditional kids. Right now we are loving just living our life and spending quality time together having fun. One of the things we enjoy together is dog training. You might call us strict parents but our kids are all the better for it!

We spend lots of time with our dogs and are huge advocates for banning breed restrictive laws  also known as Breed Specific Legislation or BSL. 

No mean or harsh techniques, we use positive reinforcement and lots of quality time.

Both of our pups are rescue dogs #RescueDogs, previously we had a deaf German Shepard who passed away from kidney disease and a rescue Border Collie. All of our dogs know hand signals, and respond when called. We spend lots of time training and exercising our dogs so that they are happy, well balanced, socialized, mannered, and generally on their best behavior. In turn they get spoiled because we absolutely love them like kids you would say. I love #Dogs.

Meet Dante! He's a gorgeous brindle bully, as far as his breed goes he fits the breed description of an American Staffordshire Terrier, but its been rumored that he is half boxer.  :-) He has a ton of energy and is always ready to play. When we were looking for a new dog to add to our happy little family we wanted a buddy who could keep up with our active lifestyle. A dog who could carry a pack for hiking, snow shoeing, maybe get into ski-joring (i'll explain that in a different post), a dog who is smart and looking for challenges that I could take anywhere and feel perfectly safe with, and preferably large in size (i've always loved big dogs).  

I've grown up around bully breeds, my grandma always had an American Pitbull Terrier or mix of some kind and they are wonderful dogs. They are also extreme atheletes and not for the average dog owner, they require lots of socialization, training, and exercise or they can drive you crazy!

So when we contacted the rescue group and described our personalities and lifestyle they felt that he would be our perfect match! And we couldn't agree more!

He loves to play tug-of-war. We attached a rope to a Kong toy and now he fetches too!

The rescue was right! We had him "heeling" and walking perfectly on a leash within 2 days, and off-leash "heeling" in a week!

Dante's First Snowshoeing Experience

He was a great snow shoe buddy! We had a jacket and shoes for him to wear, and he carried the water for us. His pack weighed at the beginning of the trip 3 pounds and he did great! Keep in mind it got lighter as we went being that it was just water. We did a total round trip of 6 miles it was an all day hike but it was a ton of fun! We were so tired when we got back to the car that we had to lift him in.

 Since this experience he has joined us for many hikes, and I lend him out to family members as a running buddy. 

After the loss of our Border Collie we wanted to get Dante a little sister. Again we contacted a local rescue group to find the perfect match. This time what we were looking for was slightly different. Having such an active guy we needed a dog who could keep up, but since Dante is on the high end of the energy scale we wanted our second dog to be a little more mellow so that they wouldn't destroy our house with their playtime. We also wanted a female, males and females tend to be a good match, two males can cause dominant behaviors and females can get bossy with each other.

We found our perfect match in a beautiful pup (almost 1 year old) that we named Ziva a beautiful American Pitbull Terrier!

Ziva loves to fetch any sort of ball, and she is much easier to pet than Dante (his wiggly butt get's in the way sometimes). She's a quieter and softer personality but can play rough like any boy! They are the perfect match for each other and us.

They bonded immediately! They love to snuggle together.

Ziva's first bath, we bathed them together.

Both our pups are friendly to both dogs and other people, and have done a great job as ambassadors for bully breeds!

Dog Days of Spring

Puppy Play Time - April 2014

I love my dogs and we look for any excuse that we can to go and play outside together.

Given some great spring weather in the low 70's we decided to go play ball in one of our favorite fields, here is some of our fun and my trying to get good air shots with my phones camera.

Air Puppy!

Gonna Catch That Toy!

I think I got some good ones! Let me know what you think! #DogsRule