Foo - Houseguest

My housemate and her boyfriend were in Pendleton this past week. Her stepdad manages a fancy restaurant in town and they serve food at the Round-Up, so they went to help him out with that. They brought their bikes along and spent a lot of time exploring a MUP along a river there. On their Saturday ride, they encountered a very tiny, dead kitten who had been clearly thrown on the rocks to die. :( It was horrid, but they figured there might be others around in need of help or at least burial. After a long search, they finally found this little guy.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/houseguest3.jpg

He can't be more than 1-2 weeks old. He is so tiny. His eyes aren't even open yet. The finger belongs to my housemate's boyfriend.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/houseguest2.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/houseguest1.jpg

As is always the way, they found him 10 minutes after the Humane Society in Pendleton closed for the weekend. He's got some debris in his eyes, and they'll take him to the vet tomorrow. After tonight, he'll stay with my housemate's mom who's not working right now, so she can give him the care he needs. He's got to be "licked" regularly still and will not excrete waste without that. I've never been able to understand why people just don't put unwanted kittens in a box in front of the Humane Society or the pound. At least they have a chance that way. So cruel... Anyway, this one's a lucky little guy.

(Sorry the pictures are so dark, but he still needs to be out of the light, and so I didn't want to use a flash.)

Is she available for parties at a reasonable rate? :D

He was thinking about hiring himself out for dates to make you guys look sensitive and stuff. He's just got to get his eyes open first. :p

On their Saturday ride, they encountered a very tiny, dead kitten who had been clearly thrown on the rocks to die. :(Things like this make me feel an urgent need for some serious eye-for-an-eye action. :mad:

On the other hand, it's good to hear that there are a few good people like your housemate left in the world. To her, her boyfriend, and the little guy: :beer:

I hope he makes it, and is able to give some lucky person many years of companionship.

Awww!

Kudos to your roommate, her bf, and you!

Awww!

Kudos to your roommate, her bf, and you!

Yeahhhhh... In an increasingly self-centered world, this gives one hope, doesn't it? Free beers all around guys- you're great!

Awwww so cute! So how do you "lick" a kitten if you're not a cat?

He was thinking about hiring himself out for dates to make you guys look sensitive and stuff. He's just got to get his eyes open first. :p

I don't know....the closed eye look may work better. He'd look like he was sleeping in our arms. :)

Same thing happened to me about 8 years ago - I was finishing a ride and putting my bike on my rack in the parking lot and heard a little mewing sound. Underneath a car was the tiniest, scruffiest little kitten - looked almost dead. VERY thin, covered with fleas and dirt. When I "scooped" it up it fit very neatly into my palm. Some college girls who witnessed it came over to "Aww, poor little thing" over the kitten. I asked any of them if they wanted it and they said "No - you found it. You have to save it." So, I took it home and named it "Scoop". Touch and go for a few days - Bathed it, fed it from dropper, slept on my chest for warmth, etc....

8 years later, Scoop is a very happy cat living with my son. People who don't neuter their petsshould be neutered.:mad:

Awww... I love hearing stories like this (sans the abuse :mad:).

A classmate of mine had a friend with a Dachshund/Beagle mix who was ill-cared for. This friend never let the dog out of the spare bedroom in her apartment, not even to relieve himself, and only fed him scraps of whatever fast food she happened to get every few days because she couldn't afford real dog food. :rolleyes: I convinced my classmate to convince her friend to give up this dog, as she really didn't want him anyway. That was around four years ago, and Brody is now living with my parents. Everybody loves Brody, even cat people. :D

He's on the right:
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t11/jaiden92/dogs.jpg

Awwww so cute! So how do you "lick" a kitten if you're not a cat?
A handkerchief dipped in a little water. You try to mimic the strokes a mother cat would make when she licks her kittens. Apparently when they're that young, they won't excrete anything without it. It also serves the a similar purpose that holding babies does for primates. You know those stories of orphanage babies who were never held and have issues later in life with bonding and such? Same thing happens with cats. I guess it's a mammalian thing.

A handkerchief dipped in a little water. You try to mimic the strokes a mother cat would make when she licks her kittens. Apparently when they're that young, they won't excrete anything without it. It also serves the a similar purpose that holding babies does for primates. You know those stories of orphanage babies who were never held and have issues later in life with bonding and such? Same thing happens with cats. I guess it's a mammalian thing.

It works in older cats too- to help them bond. Our five all love having their heads stroked from nose to top of the head, like licking (although we don't use a wet handkerchief- just our fingers or palms). The blissful looks are worth a million bucks- it's like they go into a zone and never want to come back. And if you do it while they're softening- whoa! They really like that.

Heartwarming story - glad to hear that your housemate and her boyfriend took the time to search!!

So he was taken to the vet today. He's in remarkably good health. They had to remove a thorn from his eye socket, as he and his dead sibling were thrown on a rocky outcropping with a thorn bush on it. :mad: Nevertheless, the vet thinks his eyesight may not be damaged. Only time will tell.

He needs to be kept warm and close to someone. Here he is in the little sling/nest that his adoptive dad made for him. Gotta prepare the kitten formula, as he's eating well. :)

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/houseguest4.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/houseguest5.jpg

The most precious cargo this seasoned bike messenger has ever transported...

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/houseguest6.jpg

Well, the little guy is a houseguest no more. My own cat has gone berserk and hated on all other cats - incuding her own sister - so I've never considered another cat. My housemates experimented with my Mistress of Evil while I was at work today, and thus far she seems willing to tolerate him, probably because he's so small. So we're going to have him as a housemate on a trial basis. :) He'd have a place to live at my housemate's mom's house if Thunderhead starts peeing all over our place and behaving badly. I've got a feeling that as long as he keeps in mind she is the boss, we could make this work. I'd like it to work out. My housemate will be joining her boyfriend in Seattle at the end of the spring when she graduates, and I know they want this cat as their first pet together. Keep your fingers crossed for us...

Everybody loves Brody, even cat people. :D
Oh, I'm actually a dog person by nature. I was infiltrated and invaded by the Mistress of Evil, aka Thunderhead. She's extremely cunning. :D

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/catnap.jpg

Noble deeds indeed :beer:. Cato = mucho cuto.

Wow, did she grow into the name Thunderhead, or is it mere coincidence that she turned out to be such a massive cat? :)

By the way, I love the sling-nest. Very cool.

Bravo to your housemate.

Wow, did she grow into the name Thunderhead, or is it mere coincidence that she turned out to be such a massive cat? :)

By the way, I love the sling-nest. Very cool.
It's the stupid Rx food she has to be on. There isn't a low-cal version of it. She only gets a third cup a day...

So the little guy has a name. Fiddlesticks.

I have some very sad news. Fiddlesticks died this morning. He had been sick with a high fever for the last week. He was so young when he was separated from his mother and with very little immunities. He had a chest x-ray yesterday and his lungs were so full of fluid - pneumonia. After the antibiotic shot, we had a room all humidified and we were bringing him in the bathroom every time any of us showered. It seemed like he was actually rallying last night, but I think his poor little heart just gave out. It was all too much. When my housemate and her boyfriend woke up, he was curled up with them, but he was gone.

He's wrapped up in his little blankie now. We've all had a chance to pet him and cry over him - even my own cat. He had such a short little life, but at least it was full of love, and he didn't die in that thornbush with his sibling before he could even walk.

Here he is just before he got sick. He was doing pretty well and full of beans like all kittens are.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/IMG_0252.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/IMG_0268.jpg

oh no, how sad.

:(:(

Sorry Donna.

:(

:(

I'm so sorry Donna. You guys did a great thing, regardless of the outcome. You gave the little guy a happy, loving home for as long as you could.

:cry:

I'm sorry.

RIP little guy.

awwwwww :(

I had 4-6 kittens living outside the place I'm at right now. While they've only lived outside - they were all friendly and my friends fed them. And then they disappeared sometime two weekends ago. All of them. My friend saw the one little orange tiger laying in the dirt - rather listless and he didn't eat. We figure someone poisoned them as the other wild kittens who are skittish and stay away from people are fine.

And wouldn't you know I ran into someone last week looking for a kitten too :(

:( some people are cruel.

:(:(:(

A very nice thing of you to have done, Donna.

Thanks, guys. I was talking to my mother about it this morning. Not everyone cares for cats. I realize this and there's nothing wrong with that at all. What I will never be able to understand is why people do such heinous things to cats when they'd never consider doing the same to another animal. Even the jokes. I've never heard someone (who isn't already a complete sociopath) "joke" about throwing a dog out a window, but people say that about cats all the time. To rip 1 week old kittens away from their mother and throw them in a thornbush to die slowly or be killed by predators - I just don't get it. My mom is not a "cat person" at all, and she can't even imagine doing such a thing. Poisoning, hanging, drowning, torturing to death - it still goes on quite often, even when everywhere in this country has animal shelters and places to take unwanted cats. They do it to the babies and the adults.

I guess it's one of those things I'll never understand and I'll be angry about for the rest of my life.


Oh, my housemate's started crying again... she and her boyfriend cared for that little guy so much. :(

I'm not a huge fan of cats, but I'm sorry your little fella passed, Donna.

I guess it's one of those things I'll never understand and I'll be angry about for the rest of my life.Donna, I'm right there with you on that one. That attitude is so entirely frustrating. Even as a "cat person", I'd feel precisely the same way about someone doing the same things to puppies and dogs. I mean, I'm well aware that some people are just completely ****ed up in the head, but still. Ugh.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/DDYTDY/Tude.jpg

The orange tabbys were abandoned at a commuter parking lot less then a 1/2 mile from a shelter. The grey showed up at our door starving. We live less then a mile from the same shelter.

My Guys are lucky compared to your little guy.

There must be more of us then them?

How could anyone do that to a kitten(s)

I'm not a cat person either - I'm allergic, and not keen on their attitudes (Thunderhead would be living somewhere else within a couple days) - but what was done to Fiddlesticks and his? sibling could not have been done by someone who I would consider human. Sad news Donna. Hopefully your housemates will find a suitable pet when they get their own place.

Donna,

Sorry to hear of the little guys fate. He was cute.
You did your best, and it was a good thing for you to do.
Personally, I'm not a cat person but I would never do that to one.

:cry:

Although the kitten's life was short, it seems that it was full of love because of you three.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/donnambr/houseguest4.jpg
I'm having a bit of trouble making out the brand of wine you are using for the formula...:p

sorry to hear he didn't make it.

:(

:(

I'm having a bit of trouble making out the brand of wine you are using for the formula...:p
That's actually mead from People's. I think maybe the ginger/clove/spice variety. That's what I usually get. Not as good as homemade, but not bad at all.

Thanks, everyone. We're all doing somewhat better today. :)

:cry: Man, why did this have to be the last thread I clicked on before going to bed... :(

Oh Donna. I'm in tears right now. That is such a sad story. But you are right. He died right there cuddled up and feeling loved. Not on the rocks, cold in a thorn bush. He was comfy and was relaxed.

It breaks my heart to hear of this. Such tragedy.

But it lightens my heart to hear of the heroes out there who care. And who have so much love in their hearts that they can share it with those left out alone.

I'm so sorry to hear that, Donna. It's so hard to lose one of our furred loved ones.

I've certainly lost my share... and cried for every one. :(

Donna - I'm so sorry to hear about Mr Fiddlestiks...you guys did great...all we can do is just keep trying to rescue them
...don't worry my Magic the cat is keeping him company
time for me to hug my Francesca, Cali and Vito