Last fall my husband and I bottle-raised a couple of abandoned kittens. Those two kitties are now healthy adolescents: Dali and Henry.
Apparently we are gaining a reputation as a kitten orphanage. Yesterday a friend brought by a new project for us, a black-and-white foundling kitten weighing four ounces. The little guy’s eyes aren’t open yet, and we think he is less than a week old. We have named him Shemar. We made a comfy bed for him by putting a fleece blanket and a plush teddy bear between two hot water bottles, down inside a deep cardboard box. Here he is sleeping on his teddy. We’ve been bottle-feeding him KMR kitten formula every two hours, and so far he’s doing great.
Sigh. For quite a few weeks, there will be no uninterrupted sleep for us. But lots of fuzzy snuggles, itty bitty purrs, and tiny twiddly ears. I think I need to revise the doormat on our front stoop. Instead of WELCOME, it needs to say SQUEEEE!
I’ve bottle-raised a kitten before. It is a lot of work on very little sleep, but it is a satisfying feeling to see that with your care, a fine cat grows from a tiny, helpless ball of fur.
Sorry I don’t “squee,” but Shemar looks like a great little guy. Love the photo of him with his teddy bear!
Here is another pic of Shemar. And yet another. The little guy is doing very well, gaining weight and becoming more coordinated. He has a teeny tiny purr which seems to indicate that he’s pleased with the menu and the accommodations.
Hubby shot some video of Shemar enjoying his liquid lunch. As soon as we get the video on the computer, I’ll post a link. Major squee stuff, I promise.
Shemar’s eyes are open! Unsurprisingly, they are dark blue.
The little fella still runs into things when he tries to walk around exploring his environment, but now at least he can kinda see what it is that he’s bumping into.
