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New Bottle Baby

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posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 02:44 PM
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Tomorrow, our world changes in a big way.

So my mom and dad were out visiting my uncle and all my dad's other siblings this weekend, and mom heard a sound. My aunts heard it too, and one of them said, "That's a kitten ..."

Yep, it went on from there until all three of them got up and went looking. They found a poor, messy, bedraggled and nearly all done-in black kitten who was clearly on its last legs.

See, my uncle, like most country folks, has a population of barn cats, and they have litters of kittens from time to time, and nature can be a harsh mistress. Usually, the kittens just disappear when something happens and no one knows what happened. Moms can get taken by predators, kittens can get taken by predators, mom can lose kittens when she moves her litter, illness can get the lot, etc. It's a rare thing that you find one orphaned. Nature almost always gets it first.

And when you do, as mom says, you have three options:

1. Move on and let nature take its course.
2. Help nature along so the kitten doesn't suffer anymore.
3. Pick it up.

If you take option three, then you are taking care of it. My aunts took option 1, but mom is a softy and picked it up. It was desperately hungry and took the bottle right away even though all they had was cow's milk. They weren't sure it was going to make it through the night, but it did ...

So, mom knew husband and I were talking about adopting a couple kittens this time around because our son, being 8 going on 9, is the right age to really enjoy having baby animals around and we think he should experience it at least once. She calls us and asks if we want a bottle baby kitten. And we, being the hard luck case suckers we are, talked ourselves into.

So, tomorrow morning, husband is driving out to meet my folks and take this little ball of demanding fluff in. It's likely to be a forward and outgoing cat since it had the gumption to go out looking for its mother instead of staying hidden away wherever she tucked it, and that attitude is what saved its life. We don't know if it had any siblings because they didn't do the same thing or go the same way if they did.

But tomorrow, I start learning how to bottle feed a kitten.



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 03:12 PM
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So much work, but so worth it. Congrats on your new baby. I hope it all goes well, and he/she grows up to terrorize your home, the way mine does.
My barn cats are nicer than my house cat.



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 03:16 PM
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Cant go wrong with taking it in. I have a few barn cats myself. Found a tiny kitten living in a small recess in my foundation.

Took a while but I got her inside. Don't see her very often but she is here... small and fuzzy... her name is fuzzy midget... she is fixed now....

I could probably write my house off as a cat sanctuary.



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 03:19 PM
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I say barn cats, they all come in my house.... probably 10.... old farm house in the boonies, I do not have mice



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 06:01 PM
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good luck with the kitten. I can not resist them!!!

Kittens are the most precious thing in the world, especially black ones!

Post pics of the li'l darling please.



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 06:04 PM
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a reply to: ketsuko

Congrats on the NBK!
All I can say is you must be very special to have won a little black kitten in the universal karmic lottery!



Theres tons of reasons all over why black kitty's are special, I never paid attention to that stuff. They just are and that's always been enough for me to know. BTW we'll be wanting pics or it didn't happen.
ROFL!!!



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 06:09 PM
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Long ago when hubby and I were first married, our first two cats were two hard luck kittens who were weaned a shade too early. One was a black and white tuxedo and the other was pitch black, so I know how much fun a black kitty can be. We named that one Gizmo because when we first saw him, he resembled a little Mogwai.



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 09:14 PM
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Bottle raising creates a special bond. We have four goats that we bottle raised, and they are sweethearts.

We have a month old baby goat, that wasn't thriving with momma... she is being bottle raised now, in our living room.

We also have a two month old kitten... the two of them, together... hilarious!



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 09:34 PM
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a reply to: ketsuko
So awesome. Wonder what y'all will name the kitten?




posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 10:48 PM
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We thought we had an awesome name for it -- Moxie, and then mom reported that it was a boy.

Moxie is just a bit too girlie.

My folks have been calling him Squirt, but I think that will probably change too.

We've sort of tossed around Harry (the kitten who lived, and from Big Hero 6 "Hairy baby! ... Hairy baby ...)



He does have untidy long, black hair.

There's Mad Max, Hercules, Ripley (girl in the movies I know, but Ripley can be sort of unisex), (Han) Solo ...

And after we get him and get to know him better, I'm sure things will start to suggest themselves.



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 10:59 PM
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originally posted by: ketsuko
We thought we had an awesome name for it -- Moxie, and then mom reported that it was a boy.

Moxie is just a bit too girlie.

My folks have been calling him Squirt, but I think that will probably change too.

We've sort of tossed around Harry (the kitten who lived, and from Big Hero 6 "Hairy baby! ... Hairy baby ...)



He does have untidy long, black hair.

There's Mad Max, Hercules, Ripley (girl in the movies I know, but Ripley can be sort of unisex), (Han) Solo ...

And after we get him and get to know him better, I'm sure things will start to suggest themselves.


Call him "Bill"...

The world needs another "Bill the Cat"...



posted on Sep, 18 2019 @ 11:48 PM
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originally posted by: ketsuko
We thought we had an awesome name for it -- Moxie, and then mom reported that it was a boy.

Moxie is just a bit too girlie.

My folks have been calling him Squirt, but I think that will probably change too.

We've sort of tossed around Harry (the kitten who lived, and from Big Hero 6 "Hairy baby! ... Hairy baby ...)



He does have untidy long, black hair.

There's Mad Max, Hercules, Ripley (girl in the movies I know, but Ripley can be sort of unisex), (Han) Solo ...

And after we get him and get to know him better, I'm sure things will start to suggest themselves.


All the names are good; I'm partial to Ripley.



posted on Sep, 20 2019 @ 01:23 PM
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a reply to: ketsuko

Any idea on how old the kitten may be? Kittens younger than 4-5 weeks are unable to defecate without stimulation after feeding. If kitten is going potty on his own then definitely older than 6 weeks.

Our black mama cat just had a litter on 8/21. Little cuties are still only 4 weeks and mama cat still doing good at naturally keeping them clean and healthy. Being she is indoor cat, it has been interesting watching all of her natural instincts kick in. Including, relocating her babies every 2 weeks!

My husband told me a story of trying to rescue baby kittens when he was in the navy. He bottle fed them but they all died. He did not know or realize that they needed to be stimulated after every feeding.

Just thought I would share since others may read this as well and will now know what may be needed when they rescue a baby kitten too. I would suggest using baby wipes and not your tongue like a mama cat!



posted on Sep, 20 2019 @ 02:13 PM
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a reply to: CynConcepts

Oh, we've been stimulating him! I do my research before I take on a project, so I've been reading through it all. Everything works. Believe me. I was the first to get pooped on.


I need to get our picture uploaded. We have one sort of decent one. Black cats are tough to get good shots of.



posted on Sep, 20 2019 @ 04:29 PM
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Here's a picture. He's somewhere between 3 and 4 weeks everyone thinks.

We are trending toward a name -- DC. There are several reasons why.

1. I started out this morning thinking of The Princess Bride. Wesley doesn't let anything stop him from getting what he wants, not even death. Yep. This guy is definitely determined and a survivor. All through his vet appointment, he was climbing the door of his carrier and trying to chew his way out. But no way he gets named Wesley, but the Man in Black is the Dread Pirate Roberts ... so Dread Cat Roberts, or DC for short.

2. Than my husband pointed out that was like one of our first kittens ever who got named AC (which stood for Attitude Cat at first but we discovered it can stand for a whole lot things over the years with him), and this guy certainly is food focused, and "screams when he wants it, purrs when he gots it" just like AC. So AC/DC because there can never be another AC even if they do have some things in common.

3. That led to electricity current discussions of AC and DC current. This little guy is like direct current in that he is a perpetual motion machine right now. He's constantly motoring around looking for food and after filling his belly. He only stops when you've got that bottle shoved in his face and then only as long as it takes to eat. As soon as he spits it out, his legs are churning again. He may be purring, but he's not looking to settle; he's going places. You have to put him in his kennel nest and put a blanket over it to get him to settle and sleep - so "switch", current off.

4. Then my husband said - DANGER CAT!



Yeah ... it'll take time to grow into that, but wandering around looking for your mom at 3 weeks is an excellent start.

5. And then there's just plain Demanding Cat which he certainly is at the moment and has every right to be, but an Attitude Cat deserves to be followed by a Demanding Cat at some point in time.

Of course, this decision isn't final, but it grew on both of us all morning. If kiddo hates it though, we may be looking for something else.



posted on Sep, 20 2019 @ 04:42 PM
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originally posted by: ketsuko



Looks like a bat, lol.

Glad you were able to save the little fellow. I'm guessing after the initial cows milk you got some kitten formula?

I just got a new kitten from my dad, one they found at their property, which is likely the sole survivor its litter. This is my first since I lost one 2 years ago.
edit on 20-9-2019 by Liquesence because: milk, not milf. :/



posted on Sep, 20 2019 @ 05:05 PM
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a reply to: Liquesence

Oh yeah, he's been on proper formula as soon as my folks could get some. They just didn't have any right away and no easy access for a day after they found him.



posted on Sep, 20 2019 @ 06:52 PM
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a reply to: Liquesence

He does lol so damn cute!!!

In the continuing theme of Danger Cat, given that he looks like a Bat ...



Cat fink






posted on Sep, 21 2019 @ 09:16 PM
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a reply to: ketsuko
what a darlin'!!! I'm in love again.



posted on Sep, 23 2019 @ 06:24 PM
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originally posted by: toolgal462
a reply to: ketsuko
what a darlin'!!! I'm in love again.


Heh, considering that his poor digestion has been upset with all the stress he's been through, you might fall out of love pretty quick if you met him.


He got expensive this morning. Poor thing has had diarrhea all weekend, and we thought we saw some blood yesterday, so in he went to the vet this morning. Fecal analysis later, and we now know he doesn't have parasites. So he gets pro-biotics with his formula. That's $100 dollars worth of knowing he doesn't have parasites!


He's changing pretty fast though in just the few days we've had him.

1. Making lots of eye contact with us.
2. Starting to get rudimentary play reflex.
3. Starting to try to make the little pan when he goes.
4. Rudimentary attempts at self-grooming.
5. Chews the heck out of his bottle nipples with both sides of his mouth (teething).

And gaining weight!

He's not dumb either. We've been giving him butt baths to keep him from getting caked with diarrhea. Well, we weighed him the other night, and we dump him butt first in a plastic cup on the kitchen scale to weigh him. He's been bathed often enough by now that he knows the room and the signs, and instead of scrambling as hard as he could to get out of the cup, he backed up deep into it like, "Heck no! I know what happens if I come out ..."

He wouldn't crawl out of it until I took him into another room, and then he came right out purring all the way. Felt almost like a betrayal to carry him back into the kitchen for his butt bath.



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