Memories
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 09:53amI was looking through my blog archives and noticed that three years ago today we got our foster kitten Baby Girl. Those of you that have been around for a while might remember that she was later put to sleep because she was much too sick. She was infested with fleas and had a terrible respiratory infection. I will never forget how desperate we were to make her better; putting a humidifier in the room with her, wiping down her eyes and nose every night, and how she would just stare at me, almost saying, “Please help me.” I still cry when I think about her. This is the hard part of fostering kittens.
However, I don’t think we’re in any danger with these two meatballs we have right now. Mary Kate and Ashley play hard, eat hard, sleep hard, and poop hard. They have discovered they can hop up to the sink and now spend time sitting on the bathroom counter, pleased as punch. Last night we changed their litter over from this to this, and both immediately jumped into the box to see what was up. Mary Kate was afraid to put her feet in it, and Ashley decided to eat it.
heather on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 10:08 am
Those kitties are so precious! I’d love to foster some, too, but my diva cat would immediately rebel and start urinating on everything I own.
The last bag of litter I got was Sweat Scoop. I like it and the cat likes it, but when she pees, it turns into blobs of hardened glue and sticks to the bottom of the box. I think I’m going back to the pine after the bag is used up.
freakgirl on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 10:14 am
There was a little insert in our bag that said you should either put in a minimum of 3 inches of litter, or you can spray the bottom of the box with cooking spray. Ew! No thanks. They also suggested lining the box w/wax paper.
The kittens don’t really dig or pee enough for it to get stuck to the bottom. YET.
jon on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 11:20 am
Well its good to see that Ashley is eating. I was worried about her.
freakgirl on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 11:31 am
Cat litter has zero calories!
Maggie on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Yeah, you need to turn the liitterbox into a loose litter slip n’ slide with cooking spray. HAR.
So how are they doing with you guys? You said they like human contact when they’re sleepy…are they starting to like you when they’re not sleepy?
freakgirl on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 12:57 pm
They still run from us sometimes. But the hissing is almost non-existent now and if you pick them up, they sort of relax and let themselves be scratched and kissed. They’re doing well. They eat like pigs and they’re already bigger, I swear.
ali on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 1:59 pm
awww….kitten life is so sweet!
my older cat, gigi, pees on anything BUT the pine litter. she hates it more than she hates me when i give her flea medicine. the last time i used this (which was the first and only time i used it) she actually hissed at the bag.
need i say she’s a bit strange?
freakgirl on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 2:05 pm
That’s hysterical.
Serena on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 5:31 pm
I’m sorry to hear about what happened with Baby Girl. I can relate to the difficult part of fostering…I recently lost a kitten that I had been fostering, and then had decided to adopt. An MRI revealed a condition with his brain that was causing seizures - something that couldn’t be fixed. So he had to be put to sleep. In addition to the sadness, I felt angry that he didn’t get to live a full life. I really wanted to watch him grow up.
Mary Kate & Ashley sound like they are really coming along nicely. Kittens are like little poop factories because they get to eat so much. I’ve always been curious about that wheat litter. I tried the litter made from corn with my cats once, and they refused to use it.
freakgirl on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Serena, sorry about your kitten.
The wheat litter is fine so far - I like to use natural litter with kittens, as you never know what they’re going to eat - except they don’t bury their poops. I hate that! We’re going to have to teach them how.
Again, this is what my life has come to.
And I love it.
Maggie on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I had to teach Pippa how to bury hers…she didn’t do it at first either. But now she’s so fastidious that if there is a poop on the carpet (usually not mine, ha ha*), she groans in frustration and tries to bury it. She just paws at it on the carpet, so disturbed that there is a poop exposed and in the wrong place!
*Jonah, our long-hair, sometimes gets a poop tangled in his pantaloons and it falls off onto the hallway rug.
Megan on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 7:14 pm
I have a conundrum for you: My Ella Bean won’t stop peeing in my bathroom sink. I’ve used the same litter since I adopted her 2+ years ago (the pine).
I think she was mad I left town for awhile, and now can’t break the habit. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, at least she’s not doing it on the carpet. But still…ick.
Shannon on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 7:23 pm
We still think of Baby Girl too…Dasher is taking good care of her.
freakgirl on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Oh no, Megan! At least it’s not on the carpet.
I’m sure you know already, but sometimes if your cat refuses to use her litterbox, it could mean she’s sick. Has she been to the vet recently?
Also, have you tried changing her litter or buying her a new box? What does she do if you block access to the sink?
freakgirl on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Shannon, I was looking at pictures of Dasher just yesterday. I miss him.
Megan on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Ugh. You were right. After posting my earlier comment I did some research–I think she has a UTI.
I ignored the sink peeing thing for awhile because I thought she was mad at me for leaving…afterall, she used to consistently pee in my ex-boyfriend’s sink.
The vet can’t see us until Thursday morning…but at least I’ll know not to scold her in the meantime.
freakgirl on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Oh, poor baby! She’ll be fine in no time. Please keep me posted.