I cannot imagine committing to buy a puppy without seeing the animal and if possible the sire and dam. OTOH, a rescue (or adoption of an older dog) is a different thing. My last two Basenjis came to me sight unseen, and turned out to be wonderful dogs, but the breeders I got them from wanted to place their dogs in an experienced Basenji home, and I only paid the cost of getting the dogs to me. One came by air, one was personally transported to me by his breeder. If she hadn't been happy with what she found I expect she would have taken him back with her when she left. I also had to commit to return him if ever I couldn't keep him. Good breeders care about where their dogs end up.
Orphan kitten
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Yesterday, while I was at a car repair place having a new starter put in my car, a mechanic brought a tiny kitten that he had just found into the waiting room. It was filthy and obviously very hungry so the receptionist was trying to feed it a soda cracker and a bowl of buttermilk! I had to say something at that point and, well, now I have an orphaned kitten. I first thought it to be around 5 weeks so I bought some canned food. I had to leave it right after that (I had a prior commitment that I had no way to get out of) so I put the kitten in a plastic crate with the canned food. When I returned, the kitten had licked a bit of the canned food but was obviously still quite hungry. Off to PetsMart I went and got some KMR (kitten milk replacer). I swore I already had a kitten/puppy bottle on hand but it turns out I was mistaken and PetsMart had closed by then. So, kitten managed to sort of lap the KMR from a flat saucer. I fed it twice, about 2 hours apart, before bedtime and it ate well.
This morning, it seemed to forget how to lap but it was hungry and eventually remembered. I have never had a litter of kittens before but if they mature on the same lines as puppies, I would say this kitten is no older than 4 weeks. (I can feel teeth breaking through but it can't support its full weight to walk without being real shaky.)
I contacted a cat rescue last night and while they were sympathetic, they cannot take the kitten until it is weaned, and then only if they have space. The rescue person warned me not to take it to the shelter as, if they have no foster home, the kitten will be immediately euthanised. So it looks like I'm stuck with this kitten for the time being.
I put the kitten in a tiny litter box lined with paper towels to feed it. This method proved to make for much easier cleanup all around.
The pic below shows the back of a driver's license next to the kitten to show its size. The pic also shows the kitten walking on shaky little legs.
Anyone want a cute kitten? :p
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To add to the story…...there are no houses near the car repair shop that the kitten was found. It was either tossed into the parking lot by some cruel person or born from a feral mother. Since the kitten can barely walk, it seems unlikely that it walked away from its place of birth to end up where it was found. Either mama cat was trying to move it or something was carrying it off for lunch and got spooked by the mechanics and dropped it. Since the kitten has a few small puncture wounds on its hindquarters it seems more likely that the latter may be true.
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Sounds like that baby and Robyn were meant to find each other! I'm glad whatever was planning kitten lunch got scared off.
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The kitten is growing stronger by the minute, or so it seems. He has a voracious appetite and I am amazed at how much he eats! His legs are stronger and he can scoot across the floor now. I have to watch him carefully to make sure he doesn't end up in another room while I am preparing his food. His teeth are erupting fast and I hope he will start eating something solid soon.
Last night, after carefully observing my dogs' body language, I decided to let my older dogs meet the kitten. I sat on the floor with the kitten on my leg with eight year old female Pippin and ten year old boys Baron and Logan. Baron and Pippin showed interest immediately but poor Logan took one look at the kitten and went "EEK! A MOUSE!!!!!" and ran and jumped up on the sofa! I would have given anything to have had that on video LOL! Baron has always loved baby puppies and when a litter is born, he goes nuts until I allow him to go in and bathe the newborns. He is also very protective of "his" little ones and keeps other animals away from them for the first 2-3 weeks. He had never seen such a small kitten before but his parenting instinct kicked in and he groomed the kitten thoroughly. Once he started grooming it, no other dogs were allowed to be near it as Baron would put his body between the kitten and Pippin. (Logan stayed "hidden" on the couch.) I grabbed the camera and these are a few pics of it.
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Those are wonderful pics, love and protection is what need this kitten!
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Aww that is so sweet. And look at the Basenji grooming the baby!!! melts
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Now you could never give that baby up, could you?
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Awwwwwwwww. Good thing you were at the mechanics that day! Seems like it was meant to be.
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Poor baby kitty . . . Have you given it a name yet? Your B's are taking a liking to it. A very good sign. My fingers are crossed for you and your new mission.
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Awwww! What a wonderful person you are!
The Angels were looking out for this little one.
Just love the photos of your gorgeous dogs.
Angee -
Robyn,
Do you have an update on the kitten? I loved the photos and was curious how she was doing.
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Robyn,
Do you have an update on the kitten? I loved the photos and was curious how she was doing.
The kitten has been here about a week and a half. I have to admit that raising this orphan kitten is totally different than I expected. I have raised a few litters of puppies (none orphans though) and by this age, puppies are nearly weaned and are quite playful. This kitten doesn't know how to play yet and I'm puzzled by the difficulty of weaning him. His teeth are mostly in but he has stubbornly refused all of my attempts at switching him to solid food. (Gerber meat baby food, canned kitten food, and moistened dry kitten food are all met with distaste.) He is very healthy and vigorous but he is awfully "runty" looking. Once he gets on a good solid food his growth rate should improve.
I moved him to a bigger crate today and put a large, flat metal food dish with a 1" lip in the crate to use as a litter box. Its heavy enough to not flip over and short enough for him to get into easily. Though he has shown no interest, I put a flat bowl of dry kitten food and a heavy crock "hamster" dish in his crate with water. I put a soft fake sheepskin pad in for him to lay on and a couple of toys for him to explore.
I let him run around the kitchen and living room a few times a day for exercise. He can run pretty good now and he follows my feet around the house. Oddly though he shows no curiousity towards exploring or playing with anything. Perhaps he is just too young yet? He has a mighty set of lungs on him! He is quite the talkative chap. No need to put a bell on him as I can hear him with every move he makes LOL! Since he has no siblings, I am allowing him to interact with my 3 adult cats. This is a slight risk but I figured that if he was diseased he would be showing signs or be dead by now and he appears to be quite healthy.
The kitten is very cute but I still plan to turn him over to a cat rescue group when he's old enough. Unless I find him a home before then that is.
