It's been raining just about every day here but today was exceptionally beautiful with clear blue skies and warm sunshine.
I've been busy with the baby here and work but gardening and yard work has been neglected because of the rain. Everything is growing so fast, the grass and the weeds and the cucumbers.
I wanted to post before this but by the time I sit at the computer I'm dead on my feet and brain dead too and I also have many more excuses... but here I am this evening...
Thank you so much Doris-Ann for your thoughtfulness. Sorry it took me so long to find the time to settle down to post a picture. What a cute pin cushion.
You can visit her blog by clicking on THE WOOL GARDEN SELLING BLOG above and see other creative project handmade by Doris-Ann. Thanks again Doris-Ann, it will go in my rug hooking room.
Last Saturday when I came to work at the barn I found a tiny new born kitten that was just left on the cold cement floor and it was in a wet pool and still had the placenta attached. I scooped it off the dirty floor without touching it and deposited it in a box with hay that was already there. All the barn cats came to check it out and one by one they seemed to be scared of it as they all acted funny. I had an expectant mother cat but she was still very pregnant and refused to even sniff it. She had her kittens about three or four days after and hid her kittens up in the hay loft.
I let it at the barn as I thought that a stray cat left her there and would return but in the morning I found the tiny kitten had climbed out of the box and had travelled about eight feet from his box in the cow holding area that had wet manure on the floor but it was in a dry area thankfully. It was meowing loudly.
I cut out the umbilical with a pair of scissors because it got itself tangled in the cord. I found out that it was a female and I fed her a tiny bit of warm cow milk with a syringe because I didn't know what to do with it. She was cold and still dirty and I wrapped her in a clean rag, put her in a small bucket and took her home and bathed her with warm running under a gentle stream and wrapped her in a dry warm face cloth.
I checked on the internet to find out how to care for an abandoned new born kitten and followed their instructions and I was planning to take her to the vet in the morning to buy some kitten milk formula and bottle and nipple.
My daughter cut off the luer-lok excess from the syringe and it made it easier for the kitten to suck milk, she even gave me some warm breast milk to give to the kitten as cow milk is too hard on their digestive system. I even wipe her tiny behind with a kleenex to stimulate her to pee and poop like they instruct us to do because new born kitten cannot pee and poop by themselves. The mother usually lick them to make them pee and poop.
I kept the kitten warm on my belly when I was reading my book THE HELP and I even took her to bed with me, in a box with warm towels and a heated Magic Bag wrapped in towels to keep her warm as baby kittens can't keep warm by themselves. I woke up every two hours to feed it a tiny bit of warm breast milk during the night and at 4:30 am when my alarm rang I saw that she was barely moving when I picked her up so I skipped that feeding and by morning she was dead the poor little thing. I felt so bad and wish that I would have brought her home right away instead of leaving her at the barn all night. Now I know how to care for an abandoned kitten. It's not easy though.
I was so very tired the next morning and feeling pretty bad but it had only a 50% chance of surviving the first two weeks and because she spent all that time being cold and hungry her chances of survival were slim. Now I have new admiration for a mother cat with a litter of new born kittens. It's really demanding work. At least she did not died without love and care.
Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. JB
