Bottle babies

Once upon a time (in early May), DeeDee received a call from a Red Lake Rosie's Rescue volunteer who had been contacted by a man who had been out on a metro-area hiking trail and found a box filled with four very young kittens. I told DeeDee to take them in and we'd figure it out. What else could we do??

She brought them to my house and I was alarmed to see kittens about one week old with their eyes still shut. I tried introducing them to a mama foster cat at my house who was weaning her kittens, but the mama was not interested. So we started neo-natal care and were reminded again why a mama cat is SO much better at it than we are.

Bottle feeding sounds kind of sweet, but you start by syringe feeding and the kittens have generally poor technique at first. And, feeding four kittens every two to three hours round the clock is exhausting. Mom also makes sure the kittens stay warm and close together.

However, the worst part is getting them to pee and poop. While puppies just let loose whenever and wherever for weeks, kittens hold their pee and poop until stimulated by their mama's tongue to release it. Disgusting as it sounds, she drinks and eats it up keeping the kittens and their bed spotlessly clean.

Surrogate human parents have to take a damp soft cloth and rub gently on the genitals to get the kittens to release. Admittedly, it's cute when they get this silly look of bliss on their little faces, but it takes more time and we are nowhere near as efficient at keeping them and their bedding clean. Four tiny kittens can make a bathroom smell like a barnyard in no time.

During the kitten's first three to four weeks they were shuffled among five different households as different people had time and weren't too exhausted to continue the care. Thanks to Shirley, Lisa, Rory for helping along the way, I helped on weekends mostly and they ended up back at DeeDee's.

At various times we thought we might lose one or another of the kittens, but they all survived and between three and four weeks of age they magically start to use the litterbox on their own. Soon after that they will start lapping on a gruel of formula and canned food and crunching on tiny baby kibble.

PEEWEEAt about that time, they were joined by PeeWee from Red Lake Rosie's Rescue. He came to Karen alone and near death from starvation and dehydration, but had a strong will to live. He recovered with her care and was happily accepted by his new siblings in the metro.

The kind man who initially found and rescued the metro kittens had expressed an interest from the start in adopting one or two of the kittens and he did adopt two. DeeDee's daughter Rory adopted one to be a friend for her cat and two are still waiting for adoption.

FOXYTheir names changed as they moved from house to house, but two are still awaiting adoption. Foxy is the only girl; she has a very sweet face and pretty markings.

PANDAHer brother Panda is a big goofball who is very smart and curious. He loves to cuddle and purr. They would love to find a home together and kittens are always better off in pairs. They get along perfectly with their dog friends, large and small, and go out in DeeDee's fenced-in yard together.

Check them out on our website www.redlakerosie.org for more information. Be part of this miracle story of survival!