First There Were Four…
It was the beginning of July, and unbeknownst to us, the beginning of kitten season at The Lily Pond. A neighboring farmer notified us that there were four tiny kittens hiding in a bale of hay in his barn. He had not seen their mother in several days.
Caregiver Morgan Izzo drove over and collected the lot of wee little orphans, who were only four weeks old. We began the work of bringing them back to health, feeding them kitten formula eight times a day and having them vetted.
We named them Bubbles, Baloo, Atlas, and Nautilus (nicknamed Naughty).
Bubbles has white paws and reminds us of our beloved cat Hubble. Baloo has a smokey blue-gray coat, and Atlas and Nautilus look like twins with tawny fur and gorgeous black spiral markings. One would never know they were once feral given how much they enjoy being picked up and cuddled.
Once their quarantine was over, we transferred the four fluff balls into the cat house where they immediately began running the show, claiming all the best beds and stealing treats from others. Toblerone, Head of the Department of Mischief, was particularly pleased to have four new cohorts in crime. He made it his duty to mentor them in the finer points of shredding curtains, eating plants, knocking over lamps, unraveling paper towels, and scratching the sofa.
… And Then Two More
The days were still hot the first week of September when the farmer stopped by again, this time with two tiny tuxedo kittens that he had been feeding since their mother was no where to be found. We took one look at these two cuties and fell in love.
This time, we had a boy and a girl so we named them Eldie and Emma. Eldie has whiskers for days and is perfectly happy to sit on a welcoming lap for pets and cuddles. Emma was quite shy, hiding under the chair whenever a human walked into the room. It took some time for her to warm up, but now she invites gentle pets and will purr louder than a Detroit Diesel.
We had both kittens vetted and all seemed well, until one morning Eldie spiked a fever of 105 degrees. We rushed him to our veterinarian, who put him on the antibiotic Clavamox. He seemed better after a few days, but then began staggering and was unable to keep his balance. We were back in the veterinarian’s office, where the blood work revealed toxoplasmosis. This is a protozoal parasite and is entirely treatable. The antibiotic was changed to Clindamyacin, and we are happy to report that Eldie has made a full recovery.
The duo spend a lot of time cuddled in a blanket with our blind senior cat Betty. Eldie and Emma are especially fond of ignoring their bowl of wet food in favor of gobbling all of Betty’s meal, which we are sure she appreciates in the same way a parent appreciates a child scooping a handful of icing off a cake right before it’s served at a party.
