Candy Bar Kittens

7/7/12

I was waiting all spring for a call from the animal shelter telling me that they had a litter of kittens to foster.  I temporarily bottle fed 4 orange and white kittens who's mother was struck and killed by a car but waking up every two hours day and night to bottle feed was way too exhausting and hard on me so they were transferred to another foster family.  Three weeks later, my foster coordinator emailed me saying that kitten season had hit and that she had THREE litters of kittens for me to choose from.  I couldn't decide which litter to choose so I asked her if she had any lighter colored ones or any fluffy ones because I love to take pictures of them. She sure did!  She assigned the "Candy Bar Kittens" on 5/22/12.

These 5 beautiful kittens were found in someone's barn.  Initially they were thought to all be females, but later we learned that one kitten, Kit Kat, was a male.  These kittens were the most beautiful litter I've ever fostered.  The stunning Baby Ruth was a long haired calico with double paws.  The pretty and petite Snickers was a short haired dilute calico.  The cute and puffy Butterfinger was mostly grey with some cream/buff colored markings and the most amazing dense/thick coat I've ever seen on a cat.  Kit Kat was a white and tiger kitten who was a bit more active than the rest.  Finally, the little runt, Milky Way, had medium length grey & white fur and double paws.  Right away, Milky Way started snuggling with me.  It turns out that she really needed the extra body heat.  She seemed fragile and quite small.  I could also tell on the first night that these kittens would be very friendly towards our dog Cody.  This was Cody's first experience at fostering kittens and he was more than we could have hoped for.  He was very patient and gentle with them. Sometimes they all played together like puppies.

Within the first week, I noticed that the kittens seemed to have an intestinal problem.  A stool sample showed that they had an intestinal parasite which couldn't be cured by the regular de-worming medicine so we treated them right away.  A few days later, they started showing signs of having a kitty cold/URI (Upper Respiratory Infection).  On May 31st, I left them at the vets office to be checked out.  They were alone in their cage for a few hours before I picked them up and once I got there, poor little Milky Way had lost all of her strength.  She appeared to have had a seizure and she couldn't hold her head up.  There wasn't going to be anybody staying overnight at the vet's office so my foster coordinator thought it would be best for me to take Milky Way home to at least give her some comfort.  What a terrible night that was!  I honestly thought she was dying.  This poor little kitten was terribly weak.  She kept making strange movements, reaching her head way back and trying to wiggle away but couldn't stand on her feet.  Her eyes were dilated and she was in a stupor.  Every time I left the room and came back, I was afraid I may find her dead.  I wondered what had happened to her that day at the vet and all I could think of was perhaps she had an allergic reaction to the new medicine for the URI.  I was afraid to give her the next dose so I called my foster coordinator who in turn contacted the rescue league's veterinarian.  The vet told her that Milky Way could be Hypoglycemic and suggested that I try feeding her some maple syrup through a syringe.  Well, I was encouraged at the thought this might work but it didn't.  I kept syringe feeding her baby food, water and maple syrup every three hours.  By 8 AM I decided that we should make an emergency appointment with the vet, and I was expecting them to say we had to euthanize her.  About an hour after I made that appointment, I checked in on Milky Way and there she was in her carrier, holding her little head up!  Wow!  I was thrilled to see signs of improvement!