# Of kittens and sick cosmic jokes.



## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Well. I had an interesting day yesterday.

I had been talking with my husband about how lonely Malachi has been since Milo's passing (http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?177994-Prayers-for-the-CBS-furry-family.) , and how it just wrecks my heart on a daily basis. He attempts to nap in the spots that he and Milo shared, but can't get comfortable. Then, he'll try Madeline (our other cat) and Mollie (our dog) alternately, trying to get them to play. They don't particularly want anything to do with him because neither of them are overly playful individuals.

Someone on one of the local FB yard sale groups posted about a lady that had over a dozen kittens that need to be adopted. I talked to my husband and I planned to go visit them yesterday afternoon and see if any were playful enough to potentially be Malachi's new best friend. The wound is still raw, but I just felt terrible for Malachi. We had already decided that we would not be having a male again after the various health issues we've experience with past males in the family. I also did not particularly want another brown tabby. I said that after I lost my childhood cat that was a brown tabby male, and then Milo came along as another brown tabby male. So, no male, no brown tabby.

The lady on FB messaged me a few minutes before I was ready to leave, letting me know that she had to reschedule. That was fine with me. I went about my business around the house instead of hopping in the car. Not long after, there was a knock on our door. On the porch stood three children and one of them had a tiny kitten in her arms. I asked if I could help them and they showed me the kitten and asked if I could give him a home. Here, she had a brown tabby that was presumed to be a male, though really a bit too tiny to tell.

I went back and forth between choking back tears and laughing loudly. The kids asked what was so funny, and I told them the entire story, and how I really was not interested in a brown tabby male and why were they even carrying this tiny kitten around, anyway?

They let me know that the kitten's mother and the rest of the brothers and sisters were killed by a car earlier in the day by the park, and they've been walking around town since then, trying to find this kitten a home. I asked what they were going to do if they couldn't find one, and they said that they would just put it in a box they had at the end of the street on the corner. Now, it was fixing to storm and get colder, not to mention that this kitten is obviously not yet weaned. There's no chance that he would make it through the night if someone didn't step up.

Needless to say.

This has to be some kind of sick joke. They say that God has a sense of humor.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

A precious baby. At least you saved a life. How'd they know to ask you?

Do you have to feed it milk and nutrical?


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

nanashi7 said:


> A precious baby. At least you saved a life. How'd they know to ask you?
> 
> Do you have to feed it milk and nutrical?
> 
> ...


They were literally just going door-to-door, asking everyone in town if they'd take this kitten. My mother says that it's a gift from Milo.

Yes, he is still on the bottle. Asking the husband to pick up some Nutrical on his way home from work (the nearest pet store is in the city, 30 minutes from here) and some more KMR as our Walmart only had one can, and no powder. He is getting a few drops of Karo syrup in his bottle, simply because I'm paranoid about his levels. I vividly remember my brother's kitten passing away overnight when we were children due to a sudden plummet in blood sugars.


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## abratforarat (Jan 12, 2014)

Oh, he's precious! He's a boy, right? Have you named him? It was great of you to take him/her in. I hope he/she turns out to be a good cat for you


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## PaigeRose (Apr 12, 2013)

Omg precious baby! I agree that it must have been a gift from Milo, the world works like that sometimes.


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## ratsaremylife (Nov 5, 2013)

Congrats on your new child. He/she really is a baby. And so cute. You have a very warm heart. <3


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

I am dawwing all over the place. I agree and I think he/she is a gift from Milo. Also you should keep us all updated on his/her health progress and a name!


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## delilahrene (Nov 1, 2013)

(S)he is gorgeous! This worked out all too well, I am sure Milo is letting you know that there is no reason to have an aversion to brown tabbies because they are clearly wonderful; he was proof of that . Is it going to be another "M" name for the little one?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I like Cosmo for a name. Asexual even. 

and yeah, that's the most devastating moment in rescuing anything. 


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Thanks, everyone. He is a special kitten. Everyone that hears the story is just shocked at the irony of it all.

We almost lost him yesterday. He had some vomiting spells, most likely due to having to switch from mom's milk to KMR, and it dehydrated him severely. I'm upset with my regular vet as they claimed they couldn't see him until noon yesterday, and he was limp and unresponsive at 8 am. There's no way he could have made it to noon. I was inconsolable at that point, so my husband had to drive us in to the only vet that would see him right away. I don't care for them, but you don't have to be a fantastic vet to get fluids into a kitten, so it was our only option.

I really did not expect him to make it. He bounced right back within a few hours, though, and I was able to bring him home before lunchtime. His stool is still a bit runnier than I'd like, and he's having some gas still from getting used to the KMR, but no more vomiting.

He is our little miracle, and everyone is so in love with him already.

As far as the "M" names go, I had really planned on Malachi being the last M. However, no one was expecting Milo's death and that we'd be adding another pet with Malachi being only a year old. So, it might just be another M for this kid.

Still undecided, but Madoc is a contender. It's a Welsh name and means "fortunate". Maddox means the son of Madoc, which roughly translates into "little fortunate one", so that might be an option as well.


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## Roxy&Cali (Apr 27, 2014)

It was definitely meant to be for you and this baby. No doubt God's plan! He needs love and your other kitty needs someone to love. He's absolutely precious!


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## MaryLiz (Jun 15, 2014)

It's so strange how things like this happen, but sometimes it's just meant to be  Our two dogs and cat outdoors all just sort of... appeared. No doubt someone who knew our family were a bunch of suckers dropped them lol. And God bless you for being the one who said yes!


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Thanks to all for the warm fuzzies. Everyone seems to be in agreement that this little one was meant to be.

He is doing well, and we're working on getting him weaned. He enjoys canned food mixed with formula, but he'll still want his bottle at least a few times a day. (And in the middle of the night. Ugh.) One thing that worries me is that he still hasn't gotten the hang of water. Formula is his only hydration at the moment, so that is a concern. Fingers crossed that he "gets it" this week and beings to hydrate himself.

He is having some constipation issues now that his tummy is used to not having mother's milk. The vet actually had to give him an enema last week and we started some mineral oil in his food to get things lubricated. I panic when his tummy starts to round. Yes, I'm a worrier.

I presented the name options to my husband and he chose Maddox. Maddox has to come with me everywhere I go on account of needing to be fed frequently, so he attended one of my niece's recent photo shoots. The photographer fell in love and took a few snaps of him.


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

He's one handsome little man!!


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## Aeyna (Jun 16, 2014)

He's adorable! I love his eyes! I'm so glad the universe seemed to choose him for you, I think you'll be very happy together. ^_^


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

How's he doing, Caged?


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## bloomington bob (Mar 25, 2014)

It's wonderful of you to take him in


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

He's keeping us busy, that's for sure.

He's off of the bottle and on to only canned food mixed with formula now. Still won't lap water, which is very strange to me as I've not had any kitten that I've rescued go this long refusing water. I'll be speaking with the vet at his next wormer/booster appointment to see if they feel that he's hydrated enough and perhaps that's the reason why he simply doesn't feel the need for water.

Nothing can contain him any longer. Baby gates are no match! I'm just glad that he's active and I still occasionally have nightmares of that morning that he wasn't moving and had to be rushed to the vet. Please, Lord, don't let that happen again.


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## Kitterpuss (May 9, 2014)

He's so cute! What a lovely bittersweet story about how he came into your life. It really was meant to be.


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## faint (May 30, 2014)

He's probably fine, cats get most of their hydration from their food. My cat only eats wet food, and I very rarely see he drink from her water bowl; whereas my sisters cat eats mostly dry with a little wet and she seems to drink from the waterbowls a lot.
He's adorable.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

faint said:


> He's probably fine, cats get most of their hydration from their food. My cat only eats wet food, and I very rarely see he drink from her water bowl; whereas my sisters cat eats mostly dry with a little wet and she seems to drink from the waterbowls a lot.
> He's adorable.


Probably. But, when you have had a scare with this dehydrated kitten like I did, you worry about it. A lot. My other cats eat canned, but they also drink water readily. It's just something that I obsess over constantly. I think we're past the more delicate stage. I just don't know what I'd do if I lost him.


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