As part of my wish to blog more this year, I’ve joined NaBloPoMo. January’s theme is going to be “Change” and the object is to blog on a daily basis.
I will take between now and Jan 1 to think about my first Change post.
Month: December 2008
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We found a feral kitten – or did he find us?
Last Saturday, Mac was out snow-blowing the driveway and noticed a couple of gray kittens romping around in the snow. One of the times he came in to warm up, he saw them run through our back yard, climb the fence and jump on the neighbor’s fence. He thought they had been abandoned. I told him I thought they looked to healthy to have been abandoned. That some insensitive ignorant clod owned them and had no idea how cold it was outside (the high was about 17 degrees fahrenheit). I know some people think animals can withstand cold temperatures, but these were kittens, and I think it was too cold out for them.
We watched them on and off all afternoon until they finally ran out of our sight.
Sunday afternoon Mac was outside again and saw one of the kittens curled up and shivering under the neighbor’s bushes. He got a box and got the kitten in it. He brought the kitten in. It was very cold. There wasn’t a warm spot anywhere on his little body. We thought maybe the sibling had succumbed to the elements and that this one was just hours away from death from hypothermia. We took turns holding him and letting our own body heat warm him up. He was friendly enough. Didn’t scratch either of us or try to get away. Very docile.
Ping, the cat we’ve had for 12 years, didn’t like it at all. She growled deep in her throat and hissed a couple times before running and hiding under out bed. She has come around a little since then, and now can be in the same room as the kitten, but every once in a while she still growls at the kitten.
The first night we put him in Mac’s bathroom. He ended up having diarrhea all over the bathroom. Mac was able to actually bathe him in the bathroom sink. He just sat there for it. We wrapped him in a fleece blanket and held him – let the fleece along with our body heat warm him up and dry him off.
Mac took him to the vet Tuesday – that’s when we found out for sure he was male. Turns out he has several parasites – more than would typically be found on a domestic kitten. For that reason, the vet thinks he was feral.
He’s doing well now. He got his shots and is on some other meds to get rid of the parasites and in about 5-7 days we can let him out of his pet cage so he can have the run of the house. I think by that time, Ping may be used to him being here (at least, I hope so!)
Here is a video Mac took of the kitten, who we decided to name Nico (for St. Nicholas, since it’s so close to Christmas. Had it been a female, we would have named her Noelle)
