For about three weeks now we’ve been fostering a very tiny, very sick little kitten from the Shelter. Normally I begin blogging about our cute little critters the moment I get home with them but I hesitated for a very good reason. I didn’t think this one would make it. 😦

Meet Tom Kitten

Tom weighed nine ounces and was named “Jean” by the shelter. It happens a lot. They get the sexes mixed up. I don’t blame them. When you weigh nine ounces it’s very hard to tell if your “bits & pieces” are girls or boys. No matter. My husband is a champion “kitten sexer” (don’t call the authorities please) and he dubbed “Jean” a boy the second day he lived with us. And right after he re-named him, he took off to spend a week in Italy. He SAID it was a NATO trip but how am I to know if that’s true??? So…I was left alone with a very sick, very small little creature who didn’t understand how to eat; and what food I did get in him came out almost immediately as lovely diarrhea.

I sorry.

I got to work making a kitten nursery in my spare room and Mulder dropped in to smell the new tenant.

A little bit stinky!

So I settled in to a daily ritual of washing and replacing old towels (you don’t want to know), feeding Tom with a syringe (goat’s milk and yogurt), washing his bottom (his mommy would have done that), snuggling him (babies really need this, especially if they have no siblings) and waking up in the middle of the night to cuddle him and give him more milk when he cried. Normally Jim would have pitched in with the kitten kare, but I was on my own and I got pretty grouchy and whiny. Fortunately no one was here to witness my behavior.

After about two days, Tom started to act a bit like a normal kitten. He batted at my fingers a little, and I even got him to purr. But even after two days of feeding him (I began mixing some wet food with his milk) he STILL weighed only 9 ounces. Oh well. Giving up was not an option so I just tried to make his life comfortable and fun.

Mommy made me a fort!

Since Tom’s been with us for over three weeks, you can bet I have lots more pictures and lots more to share about him. We’ve fallen in love with him and I plan to find him a perfect home after he’s well. Please stay tuned and feel free to come by for some kitty love any time. He is adorable and sweet. Thanks for reading!