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Our cats have a dedicated hiding space. We have to clean it out a couple times a month in order to refill the toy box. They also steal and hide our socks there.
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Aug 31, 2020 19:50
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NerdyMcNerdNerd posted:There's a ribbon on a stick that they loved. One day I went into the room and it's just. Gone. A two foot stick with a four foot ribbon is just Oh yeah, for string toys, it's best to only use them with supervision, and put them away out of reach between play sessions. It's rare, but if a cat swallows the string (or ribbon, or whatever), it can be very, very bad: https://www.hillspet.ca/en-ca/cat-care/healthcare/what-to-do-if-cat-eats-string https://urbananimalveterinary.com/event/linear-foreign-bodies-in-dogs-and-cats/ Your cats have probably just hidden it, and they're almost certainly fine, but it's a good thing to be aware of in future.
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Aug 31, 2020 20:21
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spookygonk posted:Butters continues to be the best cat. How's his weight now? Better than it was, but a little up. Not sure how much the demanding medicinal regimen has to do with it but he has put on a few pounds. At this point, we're largely considering the quality of life for him. We have no idea how much longer we'll have him for. Last year, in October, the vet gave him a year, at best. It certainly doesn't seem like he's going anywhere, and he definitely gets super stressed when he's not VERY full. So.... he's at about 13 pounds now which is definitely a little more than he oughta be but you know... he's doing just fine and if we tried to force him into some weightloss the constant complaining would be insufferable and honestly, I don't think it would be very good for him. I am watching what he's eating pretty carefully right now and am definitely making sure it doesn't go up from here. Just look at this monster. This is what happens when he combs the toddler's seats for crumbs and doesn't find any.  
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Sep 1, 2020 17:28
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Goodnight foster thread, hope you're all staying safe and well.
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Sep 12, 2020 03:55
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That post was very ominous, please reassure me that 2020 has not claimed Butters as well. 
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Sep 12, 2020 11:02
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Night Danger Moose posted:That post was very ominous, please reassure me that 2020 has not claimed Butters as well. Oh goodness, he's fine. Sorry, I would never deliver news like that without being perfectly clear. He invaded our bed so I thought it only fair to get a picture.
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Sep 12, 2020 13:21
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It's a good picture of a happy Butters that helped soothe a bad day. Thank you.
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Sep 12, 2020 15:03
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Butters continues to be the best catte.
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Sep 12, 2020 20:49
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loving DAMMIT I just found another one Newborn kitten, solid black, neonatal, dried umbilical still attached, in my garage, crying and screaming, no adult cats in sight. It’s crawling around on the seat of an old recliner, meaning something obviously put it there since it couldn’t possibly have gotten that high up all by itself. It’s also all alone, no other neonatals around, and while we rarely go anywhere near this recliner cuz there’s a bunch of poo poo lying around blocking our way, I’m not entirely sure if its well-hidden enough to be obvious whether or not Big Momma Cat is still caring for it. I put a couple of heating pads wrapped in towels on the chair seat under it just to be safe, but I’m really hoping its mom or another cat comes by and claims it. The little Stray Cat Club at our house gets fed in this room at about 5 PM every day, which is about 45 minutes from now, so they’ll probably start showing up for that pretty soon if they haven’t already, but I’m hoping that my touching this kitten and laying down towels and poo poo with Human Stink all over them won’t make the adult cats abandon it. How likely do y’all think it is that this kitten is spoken for and hasn’t been/won’t be abandoned? I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Sep 12, 2020 |
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Sep 12, 2020 22:17
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Chili posted:Oh goodness, he's fine. Sorry, I would never deliver news like that without being perfectly clear. He invaded our bed so I thought it only fair to get a picture. Oh excellent. Butters is one of my favourite cats. Thank you for sharing.
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Sep 12, 2020 22:27
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Okay so at some point in the 3 hours after my last post, the tiny kitten got from the chair seat to at least as far as the garage door, which is at least 15 or 20 feet away. Although for all I know it could’ve gone further than that at some point. My dad also noted that when he went in the garage to feed the other cats (probably about 45 minutes to an hour after my last post), he looked around and didn’t see or hear the kitten anywhere on or near that chair. I still keep hearing it out there mewing though and it breaks my heart. It’s still got enough energy to move around and screm a lot, which I’m hoping is a sign that it’s getting food from somewhere. I also moved the heating pads onto the floor so it can’t fall if it crawls off of them. ... dammit will one of you goons please just tell me if I need to throw on some clothes and pick up some kitten formula from the emergency vet or not? I don’t want to separate a kitten from its parent cat if it’s still being looked after, but I don’t want it to die, either!
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Sep 13, 2020 03:08
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I. M. Gei posted:Okay so at some point in the 3 hours after my last post, the tiny kitten got from the chair seat to at least as far as the garage door, which is at least 15 or 20 feet away. Although for all I know it could’ve gone further than that at some point. Feed the kitten. If you find it’s family later you can try to sneak it back with mama.
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Sep 13, 2020 04:11
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I hope you fed that kitten. Kittens that small are always quiet and pretty immobile unless it's been a REAL long time since they ate. My guess is either the kitten has been abandoned by mom or mom was taken out somehow.
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Sep 13, 2020 15:51
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Good news, I just found Mom and the rest of the litter on the back patio a few minutes ago. They were in the middle of a nursing sesh. The garage kitten was still in the garage, still alive and laying on the heating pads I layed out for it yesterday, so I picked it up and put it with the rest of its siblings while Mom was away. Hopefully she’ll accept it back and give it a nice big meal soon, and it’ll grow up big and strong and healthy!
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Sep 13, 2020 16:41
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The mom was cool with you delivering a kitten to her? Probably an ok sign.
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Sep 13, 2020 21:15
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This shouty orange boi has been stopping by for foods and today he showed up with a torn up head and bloody eye. He's super skinny and wolfs down food so I managed ot get him halfway into a carrier, then shoved him the rest of the way to rush over to the spca before they closed for the day. I've been trying to figure out a good way to capture him but today just worked out. He's definitely not feral and will headbutt your hand or rub your leg for food so I think he'll make a good pet for someone. Gotcha, idiot. (spoilered for blood) 
Boogalo fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Sep 14, 2020 |
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Sep 14, 2020 00:58
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Antifa Turkeesian posted:The mom was cool with you delivering a kitten to her? Probably an ok sign. I dunno how she feels about the kitten, but no the mom hissed and ran off from both me and the litter when she saw me approaching her (which is typical; almost all of these ferals are too afraid of us to let us touch them... or their kittens, for that matter). She didn’t go far, though; she just ran to the garage for a moment until the coast was clear (of me). While she was away I put the kitten in the pile with all of its siblings — all four of them.
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Sep 14, 2020 01:14
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I. M. Gei posted:I dunno how she feels about the kitten, but no the mom hissed and ran off from both me and the litter when she saw me approaching her (which is typical; almost all of these ferals are too afraid of us to let us touch them... or their kittens, for that matter). She didn’t go far, though; she just ran to the garage for a moment until the coast was clear (of me). While she was away I put the kitten in the pile with all of its siblings — all four of them. That’s great!
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Sep 14, 2020 02:11
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Joburg posted:That’s great! I’m not 100% certain as to when it last ate something before I put it back with its mom and litter, though. I’m hoping it got a sufficient meal from Mom after I left, and that Mom didn’t abandon it again. I guess unless I see a deceased kitten lying around (which I really hope I don’t) or another live one off by itself, I should just assume this kitten is okay and healthy somewhere and so is the rest of the litter?
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Sep 14, 2020 04:28
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Welp a couple of those kittens look to have been abandoned. One of them was alone in the same spot on our patio where I found them yesterday. The other one was in the dirt, about 15 feet away on the ground, and may not have much longer to live. My dad was out picking up dinner when I found them, so I asked him to pick up some KMR powder while I got the syringes ready. Now I’m just waiting on him...
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Sep 14, 2020 23:50
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Gonna be a pro at this in no time apparently
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Sep 15, 2020 00:04
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If you’re feeling ambitious later, a nice project for the next six months might be to catch that deadbeat mom and get her fixed.
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Sep 15, 2020 01:07
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I finished my first foster yesterday. It's very bittersweet, as she was a very high quality doggo. Here she is supervising me, when I was doing some yard work a few weeks ago.
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Sep 15, 2020 01:22
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Antifa Turkeesian posted:If you’re feeling ambitious later, a nice project for the next six months might be to catch that deadbeat mom and get her fixed. I’m not sure if there are any TNR services in my area. I certainly didn’t find any the last time I searched for them, although I may have been looking more for free/low-cost, bring-your-own-cat type places back then. Although in this area I don’t know if I trust any TNR people not to kill the cats or release them somewhere they’re unfamiliar with (which would basically kill them, and is against state law). Speaking of free/low-cost vets, I think I mentioned this earlier, but there are no free spaying/neutering places within at least a 2 hour radius of my house, and the only “low-cost” option would still cost more than we can afford to fix all of these cats. I can probably solve that issue with a GoFundMe, though. The bigger problem is the logistics. The not-so-low-cost spay/neuter clinic only fixes ferals one day a week, for a few hours in the afternoon, and I have to make an appointment with them at least a day ahead of time where I tell them stuff like the sex of the cat and what it looks like...... i.e. stuff I don’t know until after I trap the cat (if I trap one at all), which I don’t even know if I SHOULD trap a cat that far in advance since leaving a cat in a small humane trap for 24+ hours feels like an rear end in a top hat move. Because where the gently caress else am I gonna put it for that long? I don’t have a bunch of giant kitty cages lying around like the vet does. I’m sure I’m overthinking poo poo somewhere here, but I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this fixing thing for literal years now. This thread has been really helpful in answering most of my questions on the subject, but there’s still little bits and pieces that I’m having trouble with, and I’m worried I might gently caress some poo poo up. I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Sep 15, 2020 |
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Sep 15, 2020 04:37
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I. M. Gei posted:The bigger problem is the logistics. The not-so-low-cost spay/neuter clinic only fixes ferals one day a week, for a few hours in the afternoon, and I have to make an appointment with them at least a day ahead of time where I tell them stuff like the sex of the cat and what it looks like...... i.e. stuff I don’t know until after I trap the cat (if I trap one at all), which I don’t even know if I SHOULD trap a cat that far in advance since leaving a cat in a small humane trap for 24+ hours feels like an rear end in a top hat move. Because where the gently caress else am I gonna put it for that long? I don’t have a bunch of giant kitty cages lying around like the vet does. Have you tried calling them up and asking what would be best in your situation? You can't be the first person in the state who's tried to fix a colony before.
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Sep 15, 2020 05:58
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^^^ yo your av makes it real tough to type posts on an iPad. all that movement under the semi-transparent keyboard keeps loving my eyes and that poo poo gives me a fuckin headacheI. M. Gei posted:Welp The worse-off one has done bit the maker.  Also it might’ve been the same black kitten from yesterday. Maybe Mom abandoned it again? I don’t know, I couldn’t tell how long it’d been since it had last eaten when I found it today, but it was pretty far gone by then. It wasn’t moving or vocalizing too much, and the mews it was making were reeeeally low-pitched for a newborn kitten. It was also in noticeably worse shape than the other one. Earlier today our gardener came by and did some lawn stuff in our yard with loud noisy equipment. I suspect that that spooked the mother from her spot on our patio and she saved 3 of her kittens but left those two behind for some reason. It’s also likely that she abandoned the now-deceased one long before the gardener showed up, since it was so much worse off and lying in a completely different spot than the other kitten (in the dirt on the ground next to the patio, instead of in the back corner on said patio where Mom was feeding her kittens yesterday). I can’t say exactly how long ago it was left there, but... yeah. Later this afternoon while I was waiting for my dad to get the KMR powder, I caught sight of the mom-cat in our yard and put both kittens down on the ground where she could clearly see them, and then I went inside for a little while so she could grab them both without me scaring her off. I know that she saw me holding the kittens, I know that she knew what they were, I know that she saw me set both kittens on the ground, and I know that she saw me go inside, and still she didn’t reclaim them. So yeah, if they weren’t abandoned before, they are now.
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Sep 15, 2020 07:03
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On a more alive note, I need one of y’all to tell me that I DON’T need to sterilize my kitten-feeding syringes and nipples EVERY SINGLE TIME I use them, and that it is perfectly safe and okay to boil all of them at once and put them all in a sealed Ziploc bag, and not have to repeat that process until the bag is empty. Because right now I am seriously spending 10 to 15 minutes boiling poo poo every 2 to 3 hours, and it is the most annoying and headache-inducing part of this All-Night All-Day Kitten Feed-A-Thon thing. I don’t think I need to boil them every time, and my brain tells me that I can boil them only two or three times a day and that they’ll be safe to use... but I need one of you to TELL ME THIS so that I can feel better about it. Assume for the purposes of this post that COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 don’t exist and don’t factor into any of this poo poo at all PLEASE! FOR MY SANITY!
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Sep 15, 2020 09:30
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Soap and water will be fine. There's no need to sterilize anything. TNR cats generally spend 24-48 hours in their traps all the time -- an end slides up for humans to give food and water along with part of a puppy pee pad to absorb urine. And keep in mind that cats love small spaces to begin with.
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Sep 15, 2020 10:34
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I. M. Gei posted:On a more alive note, I need one of y’all to tell me that I DON’T need to sterilize my kitten-feeding syringes and nipples EVERY SINGLE TIME I use them, and that it is perfectly safe and okay to boil all of them at once and put them all in a sealed Ziploc bag, and not have to repeat that process until the bag is empty. I have nothing helpful to add re: sterilization, but I figure that if it's okay for human babies to have their bottles/nipples sterilized in a batch and then used as required then yeah, kittens can too? I'm not a pro though. Mostly I just wanted to say that I absolutely admire how hard you work to help these kittens and if you need  or supplies or something I would be happy to help you out at least a little.
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Sep 15, 2020 14:48
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The animal shelter in my town has a whole feral cat program. I borrowed a trap, caught a cat overnight, took the cat to them the next day, and picked it up a day or 2 later, depending on the vet’s schedule. The cat had to be kept in our bathroom for a day to make sure it recovered from the anesthesia alright (the vet said it messes up their temperature regulation). You might check with your shelter to see if they can help with the mama. For the kittens, you could check with a shelter to see if they have any surrogate moms. It’s worth a call anyway.
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Sep 15, 2020 19:31
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The other kitten is......... not dead yet, at least. It seems to be doing okay; it’s not mewing a whole lot, but it’s moving around pretty well and has no trouble eating its formula, so hopefully that’s something. It keeps moving to the back of the pet carrier I’ve got it in and wedging itself in the space between the heating pad and the back wall, though, and I’m not sure if that’s normal or a possible sign of distress. At the very least, I’m worried it might wedge itself into a tight space it can’t get out of and injure itself or suffocate. My setup is I’ve got it in a small pet carrier on a towel-wrapped heating pad, with another towel placed loosely on top of that so the kitten can easily get under/over/out from under it as needed, and a little Vornado heater fan in front blowing hot air into the carrier through the wire cage door. It’s about 103° to 105° F in there, and I can easily raise or lower that temperature whenever I need to. Is this an okay setup? I am pretty worried about that wedging thing.
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Sep 15, 2020 22:01
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How old do you estimate them to be? A quick check on the numbers from The Kitten Lady says their environment should be 85-90 degrees for neonates with a 95-97 degree body temperature. So he may be too hot.
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Sep 15, 2020 23:17
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Safari Disco Lion posted:How old do you estimate them to be? A quick check on the numbers from The Kitten Lady says their environment should be 85-90 degrees for neonates with a 95-97 degree body temperature. So he may be too hot. I want to say one week old or less? It’s still got the dried umbilical cord attached, and its ears just unfolded maybe 2 or 3 days ago I think, give or take. Am I not supposed to keep a <1-week-old kitten’s environment between 100° and 110° F?
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Sep 15, 2020 23:22
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I'm just checking the info from this video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_w-vOR0TuE&t=121s
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Sep 15, 2020 23:27
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Oooooohh... gently caress Well I just turned it down about 30 or 40 minutes ago; it should be close to 85° to 90° now. I sure hope I didn’t hurt the poor guy EDIT: Okay well he didn’t seem any worse off at his last feeding. I think he might be moving around the crate a bit more now. I’ll have to check the ambient temp in there before and after each feeding for a bit to make sure it stays in range. EDIT 2: ... and post a pic of it in this thread. Why do I keep forgetting to do that? I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Sep 16, 2020 |
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Sep 15, 2020 23:56
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just fyi imma post a pic or two of kitten itt as soon as my eyeballs stop hurting from lack of regular uninterrupted sleep, unless maybe it croaks or w/e kitten is still doing just fine rn tho afaict
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Sep 16, 2020 17:55
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Kitton is still alive and still looking p healthy. His umbilical cord has fallen off and he is moving around in his crate a bit more than before, which I take as a good sign that the ambient temp inside the crate is more comfortable for him now (it’s in the mid-90°s, which is still a few degrees too high but I’m having trouble getting it much lower than that). He is also gaining healthy amounts of weight each day and looks to be pooping good. And he purrs whenever I pick him up and stroke him.  Guys I think I am gonna have a hard time letting this one go. He is so so pretty! His fur is blonde; it’s like a blend of light-orange and white that looks like the color of blonde human hair or skin. The pics below don’t quite do it justice. I’m already coming up with a list of possible names for him based on his blonde fur, although if he does end up being male like I think he is then I’ve pretty much already settled on a winner. Pics:   * I am at least 80% or 90% certain that this kitten is a dude, partly because of the orange hues in his fur and partly because I see some stuff near his rear end that looks like where balls would go.
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Sep 19, 2020 04:47
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No experience with tiny kittens here, but just want to say you're an amazing person IM Gei, good luck with the little guy!
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Sep 20, 2020 03:04
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Buff-colored kitty good kitty. Sandcat likes you.
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Sep 20, 2020 07:41
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I. M. Gei posted:Kitton is still alive and still looking p healthy.  He (probably a he) looks about a week old. I'm accidentally running a kitten rescue, apparently. Currently fostering 2 older kittens (6 weeks and 13 weeks) and my fellow catlady sends me this pic:  I took two, she's taking 3. We started a TNR nonprofit together and this is, uh, not what I wanted to be doing!! Oh well, I'm a sucker. These new ones look to be around 3 weeks. At least they'll start eating on their own soon. The older kittens are going to a specialty no-kill cat shelter in about 2 weeks.  Ghost at peak cuteness. I'll miss this lil guy for sure. I will not miss his cabbage farts.
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Sep 20, 2020 22:53
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