<p>Oh Berurah! I’m sooo sorry :(</p>
<p>I had not checked this thread in a while because I do not know anything about the care of kittens, so I just learned about the loss of all your kittens. BIG HUGS to you all, especially your darling youngest S!!</p>
<p>Being from a family full of animal lovers (especially my 11-year old S and 9 year-old D who spend every minute they can on the floor with our dogs), my heart goes out to you!!</p>
<p>Sending warm thoughts your way!</p>
<p>curiousmother~</p>
<p>Thanks so very much for your kindness. Your young son and daughter sound just like my kids! Those are the best memories of childhood, aren’t they? My kids would rather play with the dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and rabbit than anything else! 
I can feel your warm thoughts, and they are MUCH appreciated!</p>
<p>love, ~b.</p>
<p>Berurah, I’m so sorry for the loss of your kittens. And you did absolutely everything possible to save them. This must be such a difficult time for your whole family. You are in my thoughts.</p>
<p>berurah—I’ve been trying to wean myself off CC, and just tonight went to the last page of this post to get an update…I said, “Oh NO” out loud to the computer screen! So sorry to hear about the kitties. :(</p>
<p>mmom~
Thank you so very much for your reassuring words. I can’t tell you how much they mean to me. I really enjoyed reading about your experience with Patience’s pups! Did you keep any of the puppies? I definitely have a new appreciation for what you went through in encouraging Patience to be a good mama to her sweet babes. I have to tell you that despite what we did, I still feel so much guilt (though I realize it’s not rational), and your message has truly made me feel better. Thanks so much for taking the time to post.</p>
<p>
a-mom~
Ummmm, WAIT a second! You CANNOT do this!!! I’d miss you WAAAAAY too much! I so appreciate your support and your lovely post. You’re a real doll!</p>
<p>love, ~berurah</p>
<p>:) Oh, I know I’ll never be weaned— just trying to make sure I can actually accomplish something once in a while instead of sitting on the couch with the laptop, or upstairs on the “big computer” for hours on end. Take care, B.</p>
<p>Berurah, I’m so sorry to hear about the kittens. :(</p>
<p>Berurah, I have to say again, I’m just so sorry. You and your whole family were working so hard to save the kittens. I truly believe there was nothing else you could have done. In answer to your question, yes, we did keep one puppy, Jenny. I know we were very lucky that Patience’s pups did OK, but we did have lots of help. My H and my father-in-law had experience with litters of pups. My 20 yr old D spent the day before the birth watching the Animal Channel which by some miracle featured mother dogs giving birth with complications. D was actually able to use what she learned during the birth. But even so, there were times during that first week when things were happening so fast that I felt like I could not do things fast enough or well enough to make a real difference. If an infection or something beyond our control were to happen, I know it would not have turned out well. Patience was a mostly a good mother, but she was older (2 yrs old). When it was time to give the pups to new homes, at first Patience was a little relieved. But then when there were only a few left, she was not very happy, and kept looking for them. We all missed them too. You and your family are in my thoughts. Give Belle a hug from us too.</p>
<p>
<em>ROFL</em>!!! Let me know if your attempt is successful, and if it is, pass some tips my way!! I’ve been working on this to no avail for several years now… :D</p>
<p>mollie~
Thanks so much, sweetie! I still need to get you some pics of Jojo!! She’s so adorable!</p>
<p>mmom~
I’m so glad to hear that your family got to keep Jenny! I’m sure that made Patience feel better as the other pups went to good homes. I’ll bet it was hard on your family to say goodbye to all of the sweet pups y’all had provided so much care for. Sadly, we had already lined up some really great homes for some of Belle’s kittens (we didn’t expect her to have so many as a young cat!), so we had to tell those people what happened <em>sigh</em>. Thanks for the hug for Miss Belle. I just gave it to her! She seems to be doing a bit better now…looking for her kittens less than she was. She’s still clingy, though, and tends to follow me all over the house now and sit next to me when I’m working on something. She’s turned into a real love bug, which is kind of nice for all of us! Again, I thank you so much for your reassuring words. I wish I had to words to adequately let you know how much your support has truly meant.</p>
<p>love, ~berurah</p>
<p>berurah
So sorry to hear about your kittens. We went through this exact same thing when I was pregnant with my S. We had our sweet sheltie bred and she gave birth to 3 puppies. We were unable to save any of them, either. The strange thing was she NEVER went into heat again and she lived about 11 more years. The death of animals is so hard on the kids.</p>
<p>I never should have clicked on this thread. I was avidly reading the saga of the kittens from beginning to end, and the end was a real downer. Sniff.</p>
<p>berurah–My condolences to you and your family. We always had cats when I was growing up, with the occasional litter. My, those kittens were cute. I hope you get to experience the joy of baby animals again soon. Maybe in a rescue shelter? ;)</p>
<p>naneth~
Thanks so much for the condolences. It <em>has</em> been hard on the kids, but we are slowly getting back to normal here, even Belle. It must have been doubly hard on you to lose the baby pups when you were pregnant. I know everything hit me twice as hard when I was so hormonal! It does make me feel better to know, though, that sometimes these things just happen and that they don’t just happen to US. </p>
<p>mommusic~
You’re so right. This was just a terrible downer. It must have been fun to have cats when you were growing up. Cats are a relatively new addition to our family–in about the last four years. We’ve always had dogs and other pets, including iguanas and rabbits. But, for some reason, cats kept FINDING us, and I thought it must be for a good reason. Now, they are an integral part of our family, and yes, one day I hope to be around some baby kittens again! Thanks so much for posting.</p>
<p>love, ~berurah</p>
<p>My neighbor, AKA the cat lady, just “rescued” a 5-wk-old kitty (and is getting her brother tomorrow). The mom was a really young cat and she never got the hang of the motherhood thing. She started with being indifferent, then started to get nasty…they had to take the remaining kitties away. They have to be bottle-fed for a while now. I’d never heard of this until your sad story, B, but my neighbor also said that young cat moms are frequently clueless. Every day will get better for you (and Belle).</p>
<p>astrophysicsmom: I’m sure your neighbor knows this, but for anyone else reading… For kittens that age, you can pulverize kitten food in the blender, mix it with formula and extra water, and smear it on the kitties’ front feet. They will lick it off. It’s much easier than bottle feeding, but messier.</p>
<p>Thanks, Mary. I’ll check. I suspect she rather enjoys the bottle feeding. We’re going to babysit the new babies tomorrow–we’ll see how it goes.</p>
<p>
Hi a-mom~</p>
<p>Both the emergency vet that I consulted and our regular vet told me this same thing. I had never heard this before either. The emergency vet told me that Belle’s having kittens was essentially the equivalent of a 14-15 year old girl having a baby. Those poor kittens. 
I’ll bet your neighbor’s new baby kittens are completely adorable–That is such a great kitten age. Our Nemo wasn’t much older than that when we got him, and he could (and would) slip under the crack beneath the bathroom door when someone was in there and he wanted to be with them!</p>
<p>MaryTN~
What is the youngest age you can feed a kitten like that? When I was researching online, I was suprised to read that you can actually mix some kind of kitten food similar to that for kittens as young as THREE WEEKS! Do you think that is accurate? That sounded awfully young to me…</p>
<p>You’re right about bottle feeding being enjoyable… for one or two kittens.</p>
<p>berurah – I don’t know much about kittens (wow, Paul Simon moment there). It would depend how well their first few weeks had gone, I imagine. If they were too lethargic to lick themselves, it wouldn’t work. But animal babies mature incredibly faster than human babies. When they were born, the golden puppies were slightly bigger than the palm of your hand. When they were 6 weeks old it took 5 of us to keep them in the baby swimming pool long enough for one picture!! Can we post pictures on cc? I have those two pool pictures somewhere.</p>
<p>OK, y’all, so get THIS!</p>
<p>My oldest D (18) recently completed teaching a drama class at the local rec center, and she finally got her paycheck. It’s already gone!!! :eek: And you may ask, WHY???</p>
<p>In a word, “Phantom”!!</p>
<p>My D went to the Humane Society today, and she picked out an early Mother’s Day gift for me! Yep, you’ve probably guessed by now…a gorgeous, incredible, energetic, adventurous, hilarious ball of kitten fluff (8 weeks old). At the Human Society, they named him “Avenger.” I can DEFINITELY see why!! However, my 13-year-old son took one look at his face and said, “Wow, he really looks like the Phantom of the Opera!” And sure enough, I looked, and yep, he has the same “mask”!!! So, we have officially changed the little rascal’s name to Phantom!</p>
<p>He could be Belle’s son. Really. Black and white like she is and EVERY BIT as bratty! 
Right now, the Humane Society is giving kittens three days–that’s IT–three days, before putting these precious kittens to sleep. So, she took Phantom immediately. </p>
<p>Phantom is all set. He’s had all of his shots, de-worming, neutering, and he even has a microchip in case he gets lost! </p>
<p>What a great Mother’s Day gift, huh??? And even a better daughter! </p>
<p>What a pleasure to bring a happy update to this thread! :D</p>
<p>love, ~berurah and new kitten family member, Phantom</p>
<p>Glad to hear at least one was saved. Did you have Bell fixed? Good luck with your kitty!</p>
<p>My cats are unvbelivable. I do volunteer work every day at our park and the cats follow me there, follow me all around and come home with me just like I’m walking a dog.And they are very cheerful and bouncy.</p>
<p>
Hi bhg~</p>
<p>We are planning to have Belle fixed. She only gave birth a week and two days ago, and we are wanting her to fully recover from that before we have her spayed. We’ve already spoken to the vet about the surgery though!</p>
<p>Our cats, too, are more “dog-like” than “cat-like”! :)</p>
<p>~berurah</p>