The male kitten, formerly known as Batman, passed away in the hours between midnight and 5 this morning. The female kitten, who I would like to name Eva (as in Braun) because she has a perfect Kitler face and I love a good Internet meme, was still alive as of 8 o'clock, when I dropped her back off at the shelter, hoping they would give her IV fluids. And I have been wallowing in the second stage of grief--anger--ever since. I am so upset they didn't take me seriously when I brought both kittens in at noon yesterday. I told them how sick they were. The reason I was there was to save both of their lives. I told the tech this morning that if they can get Eva stabilized, I would continue to foster her. But I want them to keep her at least all of today. She needs more medical intervention than I can do on my first attempt at feline neonatal care.
The last day and a half were very rough. I was every bit as exhausted as if I had a human infant in the house. This is why we knew we were doing it right having kids in our early 20s, when staying up all night wasn't a big deal. I don't know how our friends handled having babies when they were in their 30s and 40s. It's just too hard at this age. I found it interesting to learn how remarkably similar are the sounds made by human and feline infants. The cooing and mewling were indistinguishable (to my ears) from human sounds. They were just a little higher for coming from such a tiny mouth.
I hope I can get myself back in order as well, while Eva is back in the shelter. It took me no time at all to fall apart. My stomach is killing me, partly from stress, partly from lack of sleep, and partly because I stopped eating real food in order to focus on feeding the little ones. Today is supposed to be close to 100 degrees outside, and I completely ignored all the plants yesterday. The ground outside is still saturated, but I made sure the container plants were watered enough to survive today's heat. I found that by waiting a day, I missed the first tomato ripening, and it now has bite marks in it. There was another right next to it, that escaped being pilfered. I picked it and brought it inside. I may use it and the rest of the only cucumber I successfully grew in a sandwich today. It will taste like victory. I am in sore need of a win.
im sorry to hear about Bruce, lets hope eva will do better. i would be mad too if they didnt do anything when you brought them a sick pet.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a few days now, and I have never heard back. I have a bad feeling she also didn't make it. I would prefer to think they just don't trust me anymore, and that she was placed with someone else.
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