Last Sunday, Aug. 17, I was cleaning out our garage. I pulled out a box that I had not broken down, and when I did, I heard a "thump" and saw something gray and unmoving rolling around in there. I assumed, without looking, that maybe a squirrel had gotten stuck in the box and died so didn't think anything further. When my wife came out and I told her, she heard scuffling, so she tipped the box over to see if anything would crawl out, and when she looked closer, she saw this:
https://38.media.tumblr.com/e6128d5e3fd7b8664b1c361acd80a7df/tumblr_natoncBqPy1tkrt3to1_1280.jpg
Three kittens, not more than a few days old. We knew right away who the likely mother was - a local stray who we have fed a few times; and who, during the horrible subzero winter days, had often slept in a makeshift shelter we made available in the garage. Sure enough, after we got the litter fixed up with a blanket in a cleaner box, she came walking around the driveway, and as soon as we were far enough away, she went in and got in the box with them.
She was still there Monday morning when I left for work. But Monday afternoon, when I got home, I found one lonely kitten in the box. No mom, no litter mates, just him. I sat outside in the yard in a lawn chair for about two hours to see if she would return, and she didn't. When my wife got home, she did the same.The mother returned about 7:30 that evening, looked around for food, stuck her head in the box, sniffed the remaining kitten and walked away.
Our best guess is that she rejected him as a runt - in the pictures we have he does look a lot smaller than the other two. We weren't about to let him sit alone and die of exposure or starvation, so we took him in the house, got him set up in a warm, comfortable box, then I went and got a bottle and formula at the pet store. The next day, with the help of a colleague who has done a lot of rescue work, I got in touch with the local APL, figuring we might be able to get him put into a nursing litter with a lactating mother. I was told that, because of FIV/feline leukemia worries, they would only be able to give him to a foster family who would bottle feed until they could get him adoption ready. Since we were already bottle-feeding him, we decided to just keep him.
He's had a vet checkup and she estimated him at about 12 days old as of this past Thursday. He's already increased in weight from 110g to 254g and already has his legs almost completely under him for walking. I've been taking him to work every day and bottle feeding him, then at night we take turns getting up every 3-4 hours to feed him. Our other cats seem to be OK with him with the limited exposure they've had. Our orange tabby, Rusty,particularly seems fascinated, already bathing him a few times. (We only let them see him for a couple of minutes at a time until he's old enough for de-worming, FIV test and vaccinations. Otherwise he stays in a separate, closed room.)
https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t1.0-9/10628048_10203768272543995_5301981928447350538_n.jpg
https://38.media.tumblr.com/411579c7174df495a536d6c8091af1bb/tumblr_natp6izwBU1tkrt3to3_1280.jpg
https://38.media.tumblr.com/5b722257cdb6aa982f00a8ab3d36308c/tumblr_natr387mmA1tkrt3to2_1280.jpg
― Welcome to my spooooooky carnival! Hope I don't... blow your mind! (Phil D.), Sunday, 24 August 2014 18:52 (nine years ago) link
Kitten!
― Stephen King's Threaderstarter (kingfish), Sunday, 24 August 2014 19:00 (nine years ago) link
oh my ...
we once had to take in a feral kitten when the mother cat died under the anaesthetic while being neutered (we arranged for this to happen, so imagine the guilt !), and the other kitten drowned in a puddle.
she never tamed and was a proper wild cat, hence why we called her 'lb', aka little bastard. but it looks like you have a gorgeous addition to your gang there.
― mark e, Sunday, 24 August 2014 19:48 (nine years ago) link
From the feeding about half an hour ago. It's amazing when you find the "switch" and the eyes close, the ears go down and he just starts taking the bottle.
https://38.media.tumblr.com/08382f039724dd019588dbaa8e939ca8/tumblr_natvqi3fKj1tkrt3to1_500.jpg
― Welcome to my spooooooky carnival! Hope I don't... blow your mind! (Phil D.), Sunday, 24 August 2014 20:33 (nine years ago) link
awwwwww
― Cindy Operahouse (WilliamC), Sunday, 24 August 2014 20:41 (nine years ago) link
we take turns getting up every 3-4 hours to feed him
A+
― StanM, Sunday, 24 August 2014 20:46 (nine years ago) link
*faints*
― emil.y, Monday, 25 August 2014 14:50 (nine years ago) link
Nice one man
― sonic thedgehod (albvivertine), Monday, 25 August 2014 14:53 (nine years ago) link
this is the best thing that has ever happened
― Adding ease. Adding wonder. Adding (contenderizer), Monday, 25 August 2014 14:59 (nine years ago) link
i hate cats and that's still the cutest thing
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Monday, 25 August 2014 15:07 (nine years ago) link
Follow his Tumblr! http://chewbaccathekitten.tumblr.com/
― Welcome to my spooooooky carnival! Hope I don't... blow your mind! (Phil D.), Monday, 25 August 2014 16:07 (nine years ago) link
Rusty rules. Lots of orphaned kittens/kittens adopted too soon grow up not knowing how to groom themselves, so it's awesome that Rusty is feeling parental.
― Three Word Username, Monday, 25 August 2014 17:07 (nine years ago) link
How many other cats do you have?
― sonic thedgehod (albvivertine), Tuesday, 26 August 2014 06:44 (nine years ago) link
Three: Our oldest, Scooter, is a feral kitten that we rescued. She was never properly socialized as a kitten, so she only really interacts with Rusty. Rusty is another rescue that we took in when he was over a year old, after someone adopted him from the organization we used to volunteer for, then brought him back. And Chrissy is another rescue; we had adopted her for my grandmother, who had her for three years until her Alzheimer's got bad enough that we had to put her in a senior home. So we took Chrissy in. She's pretty indifferent to the kitten so far, but not hostile.
― Welcome to my spooooooky carnival! Hope I don't... blow your mind! (Phil D.), Tuesday, 26 August 2014 13:10 (nine years ago) link
Oh, and he is starting to show some grooming behavior on his own - bathing his forelegs after eating, and trying to clean himself after urinating. He's also showing play behavior - yesterday he was sitting on a piece of fleece on the floor, so I stuck my hand under it and wiggled my fingers, and he grabbed at them and bit them.
― Welcome to my spooooooky carnival! Hope I don't... blow your mind! (Phil D.), Tuesday, 26 August 2014 13:12 (nine years ago) link
Aww, you guys (and Chewbacca)'re awesome :)
― sonic thedgehod (albvivertine), Tuesday, 26 August 2014 13:26 (nine years ago) link
Oh so wonderful.
My old roommate and I hand-reared an abandoned kitten. Her name was Purnell and she was a sweetheart.
― carl agatha, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 14:10 (nine years ago) link
<3 chewie
― mh, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 14:18 (nine years ago) link
chewie's possible dad looks like a proper surly feral tom with those scratch marks on his nose!
― mh, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 14:19 (nine years ago) link
I know! My wife sat out there in the driveway for a good 20 minutes with her camera and he just stared her down the whole time. Hope Chewie inherited the Badass Gene.
― Welcome to my spooooooky carnival! Hope I don't... blow your mind! (Phil D.), Tuesday, 26 August 2014 14:24 (nine years ago) link
So at nearly six weeks this dude is growing by leaps and bounds. He is nearly off the bottle completely now (he laps formula out of a bowl and eats canned food), using the litterbox completely on his own, able to jump up on the sofa, etc. I just took this pic in my office after he wolfed down nearly a third of a can of kitten food. He's looking around for more food, I'm pretty sure.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10660195_10203989694279400_539454601958304684_n.jpg?oh=d582f5470053c30845f73f6e7f3abe93&oe=54855C35&__gda__=1422086924_78f990c25a4873d295c30407b009507c
― Welcome to my spooooooky carnival! Hope I don't... blow your mind! (Phil D.), Thursday, 18 September 2014 16:49 (nine years ago) link
Look! Look at that floof!
― Stephen King's Threaderstarter (kingfish), Friday, 19 September 2014 02:59 (nine years ago) link
I follow him on Tumblr. He brightens my day.
― trishyb, Monday, 22 September 2014 23:47 (nine years ago) link
Like
― Dear Catastrophe Theory Waitress (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 22 September 2014 23:48 (nine years ago) link
Vet appointment this past Saturday, all tests were good -- negative for FIV, FeLV, respiratory disease and heartworm. Got his first vaccines and took them like a champ. So, he's healthy which means he gets to stay for good!
― bippity bup at the hotel california (Phil D.), Monday, 29 September 2014 13:58 (nine years ago) link
Yay!
― carl agatha, Monday, 29 September 2014 19:12 (nine years ago) link
hooray!
― Stephen King's Threaderstarter (kingfish), Monday, 29 September 2014 19:32 (nine years ago) link
He's a little legend. Rusty is also gorgeous.
― hyggeligt, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 23:36 (nine years ago) link
Today is Chewie's first day at home without us, but with the other cats to keep him company. My wife went home to feed and check on him at lunch and got an eager greeting:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t34.0-12/10717907_10152520416458800_760151401_n.jpg?oh=bc723a2ea9dda6c5f7dde76702b65b98&oe=5435A376&__gda__=1412810942_a33b64872f568801b38e6cbf0bfb9d8e
― bippity bup at the hotel california (Phil D.), Monday, 6 October 2014 17:08 (nine years ago) link
I love him.
― carl agatha, Monday, 6 October 2014 17:46 (nine years ago) link
So we've been wondering if any of Chewie's two littermates survived and today we got the most adorable answer:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t31.0-8/10295407_10152536892453800_5058283857015137229_o.jpg
― bippity bup at the hotel california (Phil D.), Sunday, 12 October 2014 16:21 (nine years ago) link
So last winter, we noticed that Chewbacca's surviving littermates were hanging around our garage all the time, and since it was so cold, we made sure they had space to hunker down in there and we provided food and water. There were two of them, and we kind of arbitrarily assigned them genders; one had clearly been in a bad fight at some point, and because he had a bad scar on his face, we just started calling him Scar.
Come May, I get a text from my wife: "OMG, Scar is not a boy." I asked if she got close enough to her to see gender and she replied, "No, she's laying in a box with a litter of kittens."
Scar had given birth to four live kittens and one stillborn. She was nursing them and caring for them, so we made sure she was safe and had fresh water and food, and contacted the local humane society. After a couple of weeks, they brought us a large crate to assemble in the garage, and we rounded up the kittens and Scar (which took a LOT of work) and got them into the crate, where she could care for them until they could be weaned and adopted.
While I was in California caring for my cousin Alan, Leigh-Anne was taking care of these four kittens and their mother. Eventually, Scar was neutered and released, and the kittens were brought inside the house for continuing foster care. We decided to adopt two of them, and the other two have been adopted out into homes.
Sticking with a theme, meet Anakin and Obi-Wan:
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11214314_10153137429208800_3145994554121505764_n.jpg?oh=2c2bb9f2812650e6f7b9cf118fd9ecc3&oe=564A3366
Learning about birds with their uncle Chewbacca:
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Cuddling with our tabby Rusty:
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― I might like you better if we Yelped together (Phil D.), Tuesday, 4 August 2015 12:39 (eight years ago) link
<3 what a social group
― Upright Mammal (mh), Tuesday, 4 August 2015 13:54 (eight years ago) link
So cute!!!
― carl agatha, Tuesday, 4 August 2015 14:31 (eight years ago) link
Good origin story, too.
― carl agatha, Tuesday, 4 August 2015 14:32 (eight years ago) link
My wife just posted this to FB. They're all trying to cram into one window.
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― I might like you better if we Yelped together (Phil D.), Tuesday, 4 August 2015 14:35 (eight years ago) link
I love Rusty's "JFC you guys, I liked it better when it was just us" face.
― trishyb, Tuesday, 4 August 2015 15:58 (eight years ago) link
He does love them, though -- he's always bathing them and sleeping next to them.
― I might like you better if we Yelped together (Phil D.), Tuesday, 4 August 2015 16:14 (eight years ago) link