I have have always believed a mother cannot care for her children completely on her own. Their will be times when she needs help. Different kinds of help- from the babies' father, from parents, from siblings, from a sitter, even from random strangers sometimes. In our household, we are reaching that point. Sweetie has become such a good mother cat (see: MommyKitty). The older her kittens get, the more impressed I am with her. But, we have a . . . situation. We have sick babies. Now a mother can obviously care for a sick baby. But when you have five babies that are ill, it's time to enlist help. That's where I come in (see: Mama). Here's what's going on:
The twins both have colds that have made their eyes full of gunk, they sneeze a lot, sound like they are weazing, and sleep where ever they can find a warm spot.
Bella's eyes are so swollen she can hardly see out of them. She is constantly following her mom around waiting for her (MommyKitty) to lay down so she (Bella) can sleep near her. This is very un-like Miss Independent, as she prides herself on being by herself.
Little Jac seems to be healthy since he is running and jumping and chasing and playing and sneaking and peaking just like normal. However, I have noticed a certain 'wetness' in the eyes, which is quite similar to what happened to the other three before the 'sickness' set in. Keeping a close watch on this one. 
Little Guy is healthy. Everything as normal, and no wetness to the eyes- yet. Ever chasing and snuggling Daddy, every chance that is given.
I constantly have a kitten sleeping in my lap. (Right now there are three.) I have been watching them closely, and although they sound sick, it doesn't sound life threatening. But like I said, I am watching closely. And I will be taking them to the vet if it hasn't cleared up by Monday, just to be sure. In other babykitty info, we think we have one male (the twin withOUT the tail) and four females (all others- including the two I was sure were boys). Poor Hubby. This home is already drowning in estrogen. They are almost seven weeks old (tomorrow!). They had another outting outside today. I took them out and let them spend a few minutes in the grass and sunshine. Sweetie didn't freak and drag them back inside one by one this time. She simply stood at the door and called them. It was pretty cute. Piper freaked out though, and she let me know it. She was not happy! Little Guy didn't like the grass at all, and only moved when all the others around were on their way. As usual, Bella and Little Jac were inquisitive and wandered around. After getting them all back inside I turned my back to close the door, and Little Jac was already back outside, smelling the flowers. Have to keep a closer eye on that one. They are all eating solid food now- except Little Guy. No matter how long Sweetie deprives him (her?) of mommy-milk, or how many times I set him (her?) in the middle of two other kittens that are already eating solid food, he (she?) just doesn't seem to get it. Or just doesn't want it- I haven't figured out which yet. They are familiar with the litter box, and most are using it steadily. A few accidents still, but good progress has been made.
PS. Probably won't be having any more pictures for the next little while. My camera (yes, I still hate it. Anybody that knows anything about it knows how much I hate THIS particular camera. *sigh*) is out of batteries. Now we do have rechargeable batteries. But since we moved, we haven't been able to find the battery charger- and I've gone through the sets that were already charged. So until I a) buy a new battery charger and charge them up or b) find the one we already own (My preference!) I won't be able to take any new pictures. And they are *so* cute right now!
2 comments:
Aw don't be scared! What kind of nursing program are you in?
I did some looking around. We've had (and have) a good number of cats at my house and have had most of them since they were kittens and I've noticed similar things happening to all our cats seemingly at the same times in their lives. We never really thought much of it other than sickness and they all got better before we decided to take them to a vet. But, I decided to do some looking around based on your description of what's going on and came up with this:
"Eye infections are quite common in cats, even indoor kitties can contract them from time to time. They're easy to treat, but if they get out of hand the cat may lose the sight in one or both eyes. Eye infections, like conjunctivitis (pink eye) in humans, are contagious and need to be monitored. If you notice your cat is closing one eye, if the eyes are runny or weepy and have a greenish/yellowish goop coming from them, make an appointment with your vet. S/he'll give you an antibiotic ointment and will tell you how to administer it. Make sure you complete the treatment for the recommended number of days!"
And something else that fits the description a bit better for the twins specifically:
"This is a fairly common disease too, but luckily it's much easier to treat (treated with antibiotics). Symptoms include runny or weepy eyes, wetness around the nostrils, and sneezing. Cats rarely sneeze out of the blue, unless there's a lot of dust in the air, but if you hear your cat sneezing and there's seemingly no reason, call your vet for an appointment. You may also notice the presence of a white eyelid in the corner of his/her eyes. The cat may also feel warmer than usual (indicating a fever), and s/he may refuse food and water and lie around listlessly. It's imperative that they do not get dehydrated! This is contagious, so keep other cats away and wash your hands after handling him/her."
So, good news is it all sounds like just simple kitty illness and such, but you're on the right track about taking them to the vet if they aren't better by Monday. Would be best if their little kitty immune systems can fight it off and get stronger that way, preventing some future illness.
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