Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Cuddling #Kittens at Nine Weeks Old by Karen Rose Smith


Each week has brought new behavior and development with Halo's kittens--Tia, Mayzie and Paddington. This week they saw their first visit to the veterinarian for a wellness exam and the first part of their distemper vaccine. Tia and Mayzie came through fine, but that evening Paddington had a reaction to the injection. She trembled and seemed to be hotter than usual.  She also didn't seem to have any energy to play. I cuddled her for a long while and then my husband slept in the room with Halo and the kittens. About 5 to 6 hours later, Paddington's fever seemed to break and she began acting normally.






Suddenly, we lost our oldest cat, Ebbie--who was 14, this week. She had a heart attack.  We rushed her to the vet but after oxygen and an X-ray, we had to put her out of distress.  She was my best friend--with me day and night--and I was devastated.  The next morning, all of the kittens joined me on the sofa and fell asleep with me. Paddington was especially cuddly that day. Throughout this week, they played and then would fall asleep on our lap or nearby. They still squirm when we pick them up, but they allow us to pet them and hold them more.




In preparation for sending Tia and Mayzie to their adoptive homes in a few weeks, we've been taking one to another part of the house for a while. Mayzie has become more vocal this week with sounds imitating his mom's when she calls them.

The kittens all gained weight and weigh about 2 1/2 pounds. If I had to measure, I'd say they're about a foot long from the tip of their nose to the base of their tail. They are jumping higher and leaping farther. We removed two lamps with cloth shades from the room that were too much of a temptation. They still run and play together and sometimes sleep separately. Halo still washes each one of them and likes them near. She's a great mom.

More next week.





2 comments:

Jacqueline Hopper said...

I'm so sorry for your loss of Ebbie. No one can fill the void she's left in your heart. Thank goodness you have kittens to cuddle.

Deborah Blake said...

So sorry about your loss. But very glad you had all those adorable kittens to cuddle you!

Thanks for the update :-)