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Monday, November 10, 2014

Guess Who Came Home With Us?

A few days ago, on Friday, we drove into our little town to go to the post office, take the trash to the dumpsters and buy some livestock feed. As we made our rounds, we drove down a road out on the edge of town and found a passel of kittens in the road. We slowed way down and honked the
horn to get them to move out of the way so we wouldn't run over them. The owner came out and thanked us for slowing down. As we went on down the road a short way, Frank looked at me and said, "Do you want some kittens?" We had been talking about the need for more cats. We have noticed more mice and rats lately. One ran out of the hay in the barn when I was picking up an armload a few days ago. We pondered for a few short seconds, and I said, "Yes." So Frank slowly backed down the road and asked the owner if he was looking for new homes for the kittens. He quickly offered all we wanted. We completed our rounds, had some lunch, loaded up our small pet carrier and headed back into town.


One thing we had noticed about some of the kittens, was some goo in their eyes. The owner indicated he thought it was allergies and he had been putting allergy eye drops for people in their eyes. I thought it was more on the lines of pink eye. We initially didn't plan on getting any with gooey eyes, but ended up with two of them. The kittens are also thinner than they should be at this age. We have some eye ointment made for pinkeye which I started using the day we brought them home. Within a day and a half their eyes cleared up.


Since we have three adult cats, we keep new kittens in a large dog sized pet carrier on the porch until they have a chance to become familiar with their new surroundings and we feel they will be safe. We let them out for longer and longer periods of time during the day until they have adjusted. We will continue to pen them up at night for a while to keep them safe from other critters that wouldn't mind having kitty bits for a midnight snack. We keep a clean layer of hay inside and a large rubber mat over the top and down across the north end to block off most of the wind. It will be a big help when the gusty north winds come blowing in tonight.

  








We took the kittens to the vet today, Monday afternoon, for an overall checkup, their first shots and worming. When they're about six months old, we will have them neutered and spayed. I think right now they're about six to eight weeks old. The previous owner wasn't sure of their age.
One of them has a viral infection in a lymph node, but everyone else is okay. I'm glad we were able to get them wormed today. A couple of them have rough coats, instead of a nice slick coat, so they were in need of a good worming and good nutrition. Tonight we started adding a scrambled egg to their diet. In the morning they we will introduce milk. This will give them a little extra protein and added nutrition to get them off on a good start.  

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to our new critters.

Pretty

Tiger

Little Bit

Scruffy

We hope they turn out to be good mousers since all of our animals have a job to do and have to earn their keep. An added bonus to getting more than one kitten is watching them play. I expect to have many a good laugh watching these little guys grow up. We have high expectations for our new kitties. They will be loved, well fed, well taken care of, medicated when necessary, and provided a warm safe place to sleep and dream kitty dreams.

It's interesting how things in life work out. We had been talking about getting more cats for a number of months, but things just didn't work out. Then, Friday, when the time was right, we just happened to drive down a little side road full of kittens. And here we are, November, cold weather is coming, and a cat house (dog house) full of kittens. Life is good.

Until next time - Fern

18 comments:

  1. They're all beautiful, but Tiger is my favorite. Reminds me of our Erica. And ....... wow - the whiskers on Scruffy are outstanding!

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    1. Thank you, Adrienne. And yes, Scruffy's whiskers are amazing, as well as his 'eyebrows'. Tiger is by far the most adventurous of the group. She's a hoot!

      Fern

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  2. I just love kitties!!! And yours are beautiful! Although, we had some we would have given ya. LOL!!! Cats are nice to have around a farm. Hard on the bird population, but nice on the mice.

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    1. Well, SFG, I think you live a little too far away to help us with our cat population....but thanks for the thought. It's not unusual to find birdie bits around when you have cats, but it does help to hone their hunting skills. Thank you for sharing.

      Fern

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  3. My brother-in-law is a veterinarian and has always told his pets' owners NOT to give kittens or cats milk. They do not have the enzyme to digest lactose so will have upset from it. Did your vet have anything to say about this?

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    1. Hi Bellen. We talked to our vet about giving the kittens milk and eggs and his response was that it will help put some meat on their bones quickly. He especially has high praise for goats milk. We let him know we aren't milking right now, but he had no comments about ill effects from milk. Thank you for the question.

      Fern

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  4. I have always liked cats, but not until moving to the country did I realize how much nicer it is to have outside cats. They came with the property when we bought it. We feed them and care for them and take them to the vet but they sleep in the barn. They are so much more active and healthy and they seem much more happy than our inside cats (whom we do not allow out because they are elderly, transplanted city cats and wouldn't know what to do with themselves). I have one little guy who follows at my heals all around the property like a well-trained dog.

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    1. We have always had a cat or cats that follow us around when we do chores or work in the garden, Sara. At first I thought it was funny and an odd behavior for a cat, but now it seems perfectly natural. Not all of them do it, but there is always at least one that will. Years ago at a different homestead, I had a cat that always accompanied me when I was milking. After a while she started cleaning out the strip cup of those few drops that accumulated each day. We always had a good time doing chores together. Thank you for sharing.

      Fern

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  5. Tiger is beautiful, and Little Bit looks she has cream patches? A dilute calico. How I love kittens. Something made off with one of my adult tabbies this week. I only have males right now and eventually I'll have to go find some kittens of my own. I've found that cats with white don't last long here.

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    1. Little Bit does have some orangey, cream patches, Kathi, the most noticeable one is on her nose. I always hate it when one of our cats disappears, but such is life on a farm. We always spay and neuter our cats so we don't have to worry about other cats coming to visit, and the fights that ensue when they do. You're right about white colors on cats. We have one black and white that has been here for six years. It's common to hear folks talk about owls and other varmints carrying off cats or kittens, especially the ones with white. They just don't have the natural camouflage of the other more natural color patterns. Thank you for sharing.

      Fern

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  6. My sweet little bit of heaven is named Lyle. My daughter brought him from St. Louis to live with us here in the country 3 Thanksgivings ago. She showed up with her "gift" because a lady walked into her little shop a day or two before Thanksgiving with him and asked if my daughter could find him a home. He and his sister lived under a dumpster in an alley. So...he is my special little buddy and the funniest little guy we've ever had! My little alley cat is so special. The other two older kitties tolerate him. They are all good mousers and keep us entertained! Enjoy your new family members.

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    1. It sounds like you have several four legged members of your family, Lorraine. I don't usually think of my cats as family members, but Frank said since we don't eat them, we could consider them as such.....Isn't he a funny guy? The kittens are doing great, exploring, eating a lot, and looking better everyday. Thank you for sharing.

      Fern

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  7. So that explains your adorable new header photo! Well done you two. Our cats are invaluable on our homestead as hunters, and add a great deal of joy with their personalities and antics.

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    1. Tiger is a cutie, isn't she, Leigh? She's got some kind of lymph node infection, though, and I went to get some antibiotics for her this morning. Even so, she is the one that runs off to explore every time I let them out. She ran off to inspect the chickens this morning before I went out to put them back up for a while. She is pretty brave. I hope she doesn't get herself into some trouble she can't get out of. Thanks for sharing.

      Fern

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  8. Beautiful kittens! Congratulations, love that Providence brought you together!
    Our "baby" cat that is 9 is marked like Tiger. She is the most docile cat either of us (hubby is 61) has ever owned, grandkids can drag her around (and at 15 lb, literally drag), is the tallest, longest cat I've owned, and was the first to forgive us for getting a Lab pup 3 years ago. She and the dog are buddies now.
    Happy, happy for you!

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    1. Thank you, Susie. The kittens are doing well. We did find out they are definitely afraid of our Great Pyrenees, Pearl, though. The other cats and Pearl get along great, so hopefully, in time, these kittens will love her, too. Thank you for sharing.

      Fern

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  9. I really, really liked this post. Excellent pictures and story. Not one thing wrong with it :)

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. Thank you for your kind words.

      Fern

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