Sunday, March 14, 2010

Butter is better...what a relief!

On Friday, Butter passed out a whole bundle of worms...twice.  I consulted the vet and we took a chance and dewormed him as well as Peanut and Jelly. 

Deworming works both ways - it can cure, but it can also kill if the kitten is weak or has some disease festering inside.

But worms can kill too.   

I held my breath through the weekend.

Butter became weaker on Saturday, and refused to drink his milk.  Or rather, he completely lost his appetite.  I force-fed him tiny amounts just to keep him nourished.  He would grit his teeth tightly to prevent the syringe from going into his little mouth.  But I had to force-feed because a newborn without nutrition for a day might die. 

He also passed out very loose diarrhoea - yellow liquid.  I really thought he was going to go down at one point.  I know how fast kittens deteriorate the moment they stop ingesting food.   

In just one day, Jelly (who was the smallest in size) outgrew him.  Butter was so light, and was definitely the smallest in size.  And this happened within just one day! 

Butter would scream after every meal when I stimulated his privates for urine and stools.  I think he was in pain.

It was very worrying....

By last night, I heaved a sigh of relief when finally, I stimulated him, and he passed out well-formed stools.

Phew!!

From that moment onwards, Butter took his milk happily, and drank a lot too!  He has to catch up with lost time (though it had just been barely 24 hours, but time is relative, isn't it?).

So, after a truly bitter experience, Butter is now better, and I'm so, so relieved. 

Butter, looking and feeling much, much better as of last night.

Next to display the same symptoms was Peanut.  He has diarrhoea now, but it isn't as bad as Butter.  Peanut is still drinking his milk.  Also, Peanut is bigger, so I hope this means he is stronger.  But he also screams when I try to make him urinate and defecate.  His anus must be sore from the watery diarrhoea.  Poor thing. 

Peanut

But guess who seems to be the strongest and most resilent of them all?


Jelly!  Yes, the smallest in size!

Jelly is still going strong and drinking her milk very well.  

Ahh...the meek shall inherit the earth. 

And through it all, the greatest hero is actually Bandit.  Bandit has been looking after the PBJ gang, always keeping a keen eye on them.

Peanut hero-worships Bandit and Teddybear.


Are you our mummy?

Oh dear...poor Bandit is being swarmed!

The PBJ gang simply loves him so much.  It must be affinity.

Bandit, ever watchful of the babies.

His reward is....he gets the left-over milk!

Time off...to play with Teddybear.

Xiao Li

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bandit has a wonderful heart. A lesson to all of us to learn.

So wonderful the way he has taken them under his wing and cares for them. He has felt despair as a street kitten and appreciates the love he now gets so he shares it with the new kittens. Superb character - if only more humans could be like him.

Yen Ling said...

Bandit seems to be 'rounder' in this picture compared to when i last saw him. must be the 'left over milk'. =)

Anonymous said...

What's with little Xiao Li? Still not fully recovered to her usual active self? She appears to be sitting very quietly in a corner, unlike her previous energetic and confident self before she fell sick. She seems tired.

chankahyein said...

Xiao Li is fully recovered. I probably caught a sulking moment. She plays with the gang and is quite protective of the PBJs as well.

Anonymous said...

KY, how are your "sandwiches" (the PBJ gang)now? They must have doubled in size now, ya? Has Xiao Li and Bandit taught them to eat mashed Babycat yet?