The Kitty Story (long!) - Part 1

I never told the whole story about how we came to have a kitty. You see, we've always been a dog family, although DS and I love all animals, DH always said the only good use for a cat was AP Biology lab! Well, back one Saturday evening in June DH and I were out on our boat, DS having elected to stay home, and we were going to hang out with our friends on their boat. Before they could go out, however, they needed their new registration numbers put on the boat. I was doing that from the water, in our boat, when the Mrs. B heard a cat meowing. Lo and behold there was a tiny kitten in one of the side storage compartments in their boat! Mrs. B scooped her up and headed back to her house, then over to Petco to get kitten milk replacer. Meanwhile, we went out into the river and started fishing, as did Mr. B and his 5 yr old son E. A short time later Mr. B called us, frantic, "You have to come over here quick! Another kitten! " Of course we had just hit a hot fishing spot, but we reeled in our lines and headed down the river to where they were anchored. By the time we got there there was a third kitten! E and I scooped them up into a canvas tote bag and E hopped into our boat so DH could take us back to the dock and my truck. We took the kitties back to the B's house and waited for Mrs. B to return. In all, there were 3 kittens - a tabby female that Mrs. B called Chloe, an orange tabby male we called Rascal, and a solid black female who seemed pretty weak. Rascal had a little congestion and Chloe had gunky eyes. Chloe and Rascal did eat some of the canned kitty food, though, and we guessed they were about 3 or 4 weeks old.
So what to do with them? Mr. B is allergic to cats, so we brought them home to DS, who had excitedly waited up for us. He named the black kitty Bella, but he immediately fell in love with Chloe, and vice versa:
We kept them in a box and DS kept the box in his room. The next day, before we could even ask, DH told DS he could keep them, but he had to take care of them and we had to keep the family of 3 together! 3 cats? DS and I looked at each other in amazement!Chloe and Rascal ate with gusto, but Bella only licked at the food and would take a little formula with an eye dropper! We got a little litter box and carrier and more milk replacer for Bella and canned food for the other two. And a few toys, of course!I couldn't get an appt at our vet until Tuesday after work, but on Monday afternoon Bella started fading fast, so I called the Emergency vet office, not far from our home. While I was describing the situation DS screamed from up in his room, Bella was taking her last gasp, right there in his arms. We rushed all three to the Vet ER, where Bella was pronounced dead and Rascal had started fading too. DS was in tears, pleading to save the other two. The vet examined Rascal and indeed he was in bad shape, low body temp and probably pneumonia. They gave him antibiotics and put him in an incubator, then turned to Chloe. Amazingly, other than a little infection in her eyes, she was in good shape, just very tiny and underweight. We left Rascal and a hefty deposit and headed home with Chloe and an antibiotic. DH was not happy about the cost of the efforts to save this "free" kitten, so I had to go back to the vet ER to pick him up. I was fighting back tears and DS called me on my cell phone, pleading to leave him there. Everyone in the waiting room could hear his voice on my phone, even though it wasn't on speakerphone. The vet tech put Rascal in a box with a towel over two surgical gloves filled with hot water and gave me a dose of antibiotic to give him later.

The next morning he was meowing loudly, which I thought was a good sign, but a few hours later he was back to the labored breathing and only lasted until lunch time. I called DH, who was teaching at the summer camp where DS was that week, so he broke the news to DS. DS took it pretty well, as I think he really didn't expect Rascal to make it.

So, we were left with the originally found boat kitty, Chloe. She was only about a half pound, very teeny for her age. We kept Chloe in DS's room, and brought the dog's extra-large crate up there for her to live in when we weren't home. In it fit her litterbox, her bed, her food dishes, and a small scratching post. That was perfect for the next couple of weeks, while we kitten-proofed his room. DS is very overprotective of Chloe - can you blame him?

I'm sad we didn't get a good picture of Bella, or or all three together. I've got lots of pictures of Chloe, some blurry since she is always in motion! In the coming days I will post more pictures and continue the kitty story!