Audrey and the Furballs have been inside for 24 hours now.
They seem to be enjoying it, although Audrey wants to leave the bathroom and explore the rest of the house. Not happening for a while - Fast Eddie needs to adjust to the idea a bit better. He's seen her, and his reaction was epic and loud. We'll keep the door closed for a few days, then progress to stacked baby gates for monitored periods until he calms down a little more. I'll have to be on his side of the barrier, as he's known for jealousy. I'm already giving him as much attention and cuddles as he'll allow.
However, I did bring one of the kittens in the bed with us this morning. She's the smallest of the two females, but also the loudest and the most adventurous. I think she's the little sucker that made me squirm 12 feet over construction rubble. (And aren't I feeling that this morning?) She wanted to come with me out of the bathroom, so I decided to get some extra socialization done. Eddie hissed and yowled and, after a while, left the bedroom altogether. No attempts at attack, just complaints. Radar sniffed her, walked a foot away to DH's side and fell over. He's going to make a good uncle.
Audrey is already socialized, so the kittens aren't afraid of anything. They now like to be petted and we're hearing purrs. I think they'll be well used to humans and friendly dogs by the time they're adoptable.
Worming meds have been administered and both Radar and Eddie have gotten Revolution, which will act as an ear mite preventative. Audrey has been treated, but until the Furballs are old enough for treatment, we can't get rid of the mites entirely. It's going to be just population control until then. Audrey poop last night was foul and nasty but is formed this morning. I've got a chart going to weigh the Furballs daily, using my cooking scale that does grams. I need to make sure they're all thriving and by the time 'failure to thrive' is visible to the naked eye, you're already behind the curve.
And I'll be shopping for baby supplies today. I need a small shallow pan for the kittens, maybe a takeout container. Audrey prefers a larger deeper pan which the Furballs can't get into. We changed the arrangement, as Audrey didn't like being in the tub; she was spending too much time out of it and away from the Furballs. Now the family is on a thick folded towel on the floor (when they're not exploring), leaving the tub to hold Audrey's food and water at one end and her litterpan in the other. We have to walk very carefully, but I want to keep one place for her use, and also have stuff on the floor so she can teach them where to eliminate and start getting them onto some canned kitten food. Probably a slurry, at first. So, I have to remember kitten food, too. And I have to start monitoring kitten elimination. So far, there's been only one suspect stain on the towel and I'm not even sure 'if', let alone 'whose'.
Siwsan, I don't know how you do it. I'm just managing one family.
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sounds like the kitties are really socializing well.
