Time to bring you up to date with some cat news.
Firstly Bomber and Bruiser, the two black brothers we have hand rear from birth are now four months old and are still in our care. The situation regarding unwanted cats and kittens is so bad in the East Midlands there is a huge backlog of animals and not enough new homes coming forward. Sadly Bomber and Bruiser are casualties of this. When homes do come forward a lot of people aren't interested in black cats - its madness! I would dearly love to home them with my lot but would need at least £500 to extend my garden unit and sadly my gardening skills haven't cultivated a money tree as yet. We will keep pushing for them to get a good home of their own and until then they are having the time of their life here.
Of the other set of hand rears from birth, three survived and it was a very tough job. They really were weak little mites and the 2 hourly feeds went on for a long time. There is however the most glorious end to this story. All three siblings have been homed together to a home I'd quite frankly like to go to!! Out in the countryside with a huge garden, orchard and rolling fields around them. They are being spoilt rotten - it is everything I ever wanted for them.
I purposely did not write about this next case until we had some form of conclusion. Some of the initial photographs may upset some of you and that is why I have waited to write this post so I can quell that upset with the (very) happy ending!
These kittens came to us in a very sorry state, in fact one of the worst I have seen in a long time. They came from one household out of which we took 18 kittens and over 30 adult cats. Now you may expect me to get on my high horse about the householders in question but I won't because they did the right thing in the end - they phoned and got help. It is the houses we never learn about that cause me the sleepless night. For whatever reason people get themselves and animals into a mess - ask for help.
We took in four of the poorest of the kittens. All were very thin and needed their rear ends trimming as they were long haired kittens and their bottoms were sore from matted poo and also from suckling on each other for moisture. Two of the kittens turned around very quickly with good grub and Kip went to live shortly afterwards with one of the vet nurses who helped care for them when they were first admitted to the vet hospital.
Pickle was also a fine kitten who just needed feeding up, and he was reserved by one of the vets who had treated the cases. Another of the kittens was Echo:
She was particularly thin, had conjunctivitis and her skin reacted badly to the flea bites she had received. I am over the moon to say she now looks like this:
And better news again, the vet who adopted Pickle also took her. What a life they are going to have!
The worst case of the four was undoubtedly Gabriel. He was also underweight but had a serious eye ulcer. At one point we thought he may lose the eye completely. We've dealt with a lot of bad eye cases but this one even made us squeamish, even this photo doesn't do it justice:
Thankfully he responded well to treatment and though he has been left with a cloudy eye he does retain some sight. Even though this must have been painful, and the eye treatment frightening, he blossomed into the most lovely kitten and soon looked like this:
He has fallen on all four paws regarding a home. The loveliest retired couple have adopted him and simply worship the ground he walks on! They phoned a couple of days ago to give us a report of how well he has settled in. Those are the phone calls that make it all worthwhile.
On Monday we took in another kitten who I have called Dimple Dumpling. I'll put her story in another post as what a story it is so far!
Beki, well done, I'm glad there's people like you who do such a worthwhile job with our furry chums.
Posted by: Thursday | 18 August 2006 at 08:17 AM
Bless 'em! They look to be doing very well and I'm sure they're grateful for all the TLC the got at yours.
Posted by: Stegbeetle | 18 August 2006 at 09:07 AM
Aaw bless, they are so cute. I'm glad they have had such happy outcomes - you really are a star to devote so much time to the poor little things.
It's a shame you can't find homes for Bomber and Bruiser, is it because of some kind of superstition?
Posted by: Kate | 18 August 2006 at 07:29 PM
I am so pleased that they are doing so well! And I really admire you for being involved in this kind of thing; the success stories are brilliant, but it must be heartbreaking when you just can't save them.
Posted by: Ally | 19 August 2006 at 10:22 AM
What beeeeyoootiful kitties!
I always wonder what makes one become a pet "hoarder". As much as I love animals, I just have a hard time wrapping my head around it.
Posted by: Attila the Mom | 20 August 2006 at 01:54 PM
What absolute wonderful kittens! You did a great job there!
Posted by: Eveline | 20 August 2006 at 10:51 PM
That's great to read Beki. Must give you a real feel good buzz.
Oh any reason why the blog looks great in IE but not in Firefox? The sides are truncated.
Posted by: Pete | 21 August 2006 at 01:18 PM
I know I am VERY late in responding, but can I just tell you that you are my new HERO!
You've done a wonderful job with these little babies!
Posted by: rhonda | 31 August 2006 at 06:38 AM