I’m sorry if you just died from the cute. I wanted to blog about the newest member of our family/newest reason I take an allergy pill everyday. This is Luna. Her mom, who we named Pearl, started showing up on our patio last year. At first, we just kind of kept an eye on her and when she didn’t leave, we started feeding her. She was (is!) the sweetest cat we know. She would hang out under our patio table/chairs and would come out whenever we did. She’d plop down and demand belly rubs by laying on our feet.
Fast forward a few months and she’s STILL there. We notice she’s getting bigger around her midsection and that’s when we realize she’s preggers. D’oh. We feed her throughout her pregnancy and decide we’ll let nature take its course with her. She really enjoys being outdoors and we didn’t want to try and bring her in and scare her.
The week before Easter, she looked BAD. Her swollen belly made her frame look so frail and tiny and then she stopped eating altogether! We were pretty worried, but it was Easter weekend, so we did our business. On Sunday, we step out to feed her and she bounces on to the patio looking like her old self. KITTENS! She had her kittens Easter Sunday (or maybe Saturday night?). She disappears after eating, but before we leave for our Easter zoo trip, we scope out of the backyard and find her nestled in a big patch of grass with 5 little kittens fighting for their time to nurse. She looks like a natural, so we let her be.
That evening, we notice two things. ONE: She has an abscess on her face. It looks horrible! TWO: one of the kittens is off to the side. We inspect it and it isn’t breathing or moving. Sigh. We help her move her nest to a plastic box we lined with a towel. It was out of the tall grass and we hoped it would help her protect her babies more easily. We saw a few other strays come in to the yard and she would stand her ground. So much for letting nature take its course, huh? That first week, we check on her daily and every other day another kitten would be off to the side. Fearing she’d lose all her kittens, we make the decision to take her to the veterinarian.
After draining the abscess, he tells us we should keep her inside and apply some peroxide on her face daily. He tells us it was probably a build up of white blood cells (to fight the infection) in her milk that caused her babies to die. We bring her in and keep an eye on her and the ONE remaining kitten.
It only took about 2 days for her to adjust to being inside. She got WAY more belly rubs and petting and brushing, so she was perfectly fine hanging around the house. The vet tested her for FeLV (negative) and she also didn’t have any fleas, so we felt comfortable with her around.
About 4.5 weeks later, we’re a household with 3 cats. My allergies SUCK, but I deal. I take a tiny non-drowsy OTC pill everyday to help.
Luna at 3 weeks…
…at exactly 4 weeks.
…at exactly 1 month.
TODAY! (5.5weeks)
She is the cutest thing I’ve ever held. To be completely honest, any living thing you can carry in your hand has always freaked me out. ANY bugs, worms, snakes, rats, hamsters, birds, etc….just no. I felt a little panicky picking this thing up the first few times I did, but then…then, I just melted I guess. Who wouldn’t?! She’s frick-frackin’ adorable. I lovelovelove the random stray white hairs on her black coat. It’s like she’s a little old lady cat.
