Saved By a Wee Whisker

Call me crazy. Call me nuts.

I did what I said I would not do, and that was adopt another pet.

This one was an impulsive act. And it was a rescue mission.

Yesterday Ariana had received a call from Jeremiah. He was out on a landscaping job when he discovered a litter of 6 baby kittens under a bush while he was mowing. In fact, if it had not been for his sharp eyes, the kittens would have fallen as tragic victims to the blades of the mower.

Anyhow, he asked if we wanted a kitten. While I said "No," Ryan, who was visiting Ariana, said "Yes."

So we drove down to one of the MacDonalds in New Bedford to meet Jeremiah and the kittens.

When we got there, we saw Jeremiah standing by his car with 3 young girls around him. They each wanted a kitten.

There were 6 kittens, just like he said. All but one were either orange and white or buff and white. There was one little odd ball ~ a grey tiger with orange spots.

With a mind of its own, my hand reached for the dark kitten, and I found myself saying, "I want this one."

Ariana was shocked.

So was I.

The thing is, when I first heard that there was one lone dark kitten among the orange ones, I was thinking that perhaps it could be a tortoiseshell. 2 of our beloved cats from years gone by had been torties.

(By the way, it was this kitten who was very nearly run over by the lawn mower.)

After I selected my kitten, Ryan selected his. Then the 3 girls selected theirs. They were young girls, and I felt some concern for the kittens' welfare in the hands of these girls. Fortunately, one of them was an animal shelter volunteer.

Next came the difficult task of naming the kitten. I looked at baby names online and made a list while Ariana went out with a friend to get kitten food.

There was some concern when the kitten would not drink water. And it took Ariana half an hour to coax the kitten to eat from her fingers, which she finally did.

But the kitten still would not go to the bathroom.

Later that evening, Ryan called Ariana to tell her the information that he received after going to Petco with his new kitten.

Apparently, the kittens were much younger than we originally thought. They were around 4 weeks old ~ at an age where they were just beginning to learn how to walk, still needed to be bottle-fed, and needed help to go to the bathroom.

We went to Petco too, and got the kitten formula, baby bottle, and a little litter box and scoop. Patty at Petco showed us how to bottle-feed the kitten and how to rub her bum with a warm wet wash cloth in order to stimulate her to pee and poop.

When we got home, Ariana called Neil so that he could also be involved in naming the kitten. The both of them chose "Calypso." It was not a name that I was crazy about, but it was a 2 out of 3 vote. Well, I could always call the kitten "Callee."

This morning we made an appointment to take Calypso to the vet for a wellness check. On of the vet techs, who had just weaned a litter of baby kittens herself, called back to ask which kitten formula we were using and to say that a good way to encourage the kitten to go to the bathroom is to put the kitten's bum into warm water.

And here is little Callee soaking pretty in a dog bowl. Ariana put her in the bowl, and she just sat down and stayed there. God! She looked so cute.

(Sitting in that bowl of water is probably the closest little Calypso would get to being like her namesake, the sea nymph in Greek mythology.)

Shortly afterwards, we left for the vet appointment.

Calypso weighed in at a whopping 1 pound.

The vet tech who weaned the litter of kittens brought out one of the kittens from the back room for us to see. The kitten looked just like Calypso. In fact, another vet tech thought that Calypso was the other tech's kitten.

However, the other kitten was 6 weeks old, and there was a major difference in size between the 2 kittens. It's amazing how much difference those 2 weeks made.

Dr. Jill pronounced her in good health. In fact she was in great health considering her very young age.

Little Callee got some de-worming medication and was free to go with a clean bill of health.

After the appointment, we made a stop at Tedeschi's before returning home. Dr. Jill had recommended adding a slight bit of cream to kitty's bottle in order to encourage her to poop. (Calypso had not pooped since we got her.)

Where she was very quiet yesterday, today Calypso was mewing up a storm in her high-pitched kitten voice.

She's already taken to eating canned Fancy Feast. Between the cream and Fancy Feast, looks like Calypso is well on her way to becoming a spoiled kitty.