On to the vet --

Carol arranged for us to spend Veterans' Day morning at Bush Animal Hospital with the gang of five. We wanted to make sure all the kittens and Bristol were healthy and vaccinated before we started to find for sure homes for them. Several friends and colleagues had expressed interest, but we were a little concerned about Bristol's health because of her life on the streets.

Bush had helped C & C "rehome" a challenging cat of theirs and also do a lot of work in the community to help Green Hill and the cats at LCC. Various cat organizations in the community help stray, feral, lost kittens and cats, but with resources stretched, our family decided we could take care of these five as our contribution.

Bristol went in one carrier and traveled the short drive to Bush with her nose out the hole in the cardboard carrier. The kittens went in the plastic carrier with a few towels and they huddled toward the back.

At Bush, we learned Bristol weighs about 8 pounds. She has nice teeth and is about a year old. She had yucky ears, but those were cleaned up there. As a polydactyl with 7 toes on each front foot, she will take a little extra foot attention. The vet clipped her claws, including one of the extra claws that had started to grow backwards into her pad. She sat quietly and let them do what needed to be done. She got a dose of dewormer (we saw evidence of a little tape worm activity) and her rabies shot. The kittens are still nursing some, so we waited for other shots.

The kittens are all in good health and weigh from 1 lb 4 oz to 1 lb 10 oz. We started to count toes, but frankly with five adults and five cats in the room we kind of lost track. Mini Mom is definitely polydactyl. And at least one of the others isn't. I can't remember from there! We'll update this later. They all got their upper respiratory infection vaccination, but we'll wait on the rest. (That was $315 worth of kitty care.)

In two weeks, they'll all get another dose of wormer (squirted in the mouth.) Bristol will get spayed within the month, either with us or with a new owner. The vet recommended that the kittens stay with their mom until they are about 10 weeks for maximum socialization. He said the mother cat is the best teacher and disciplinarian when it comes to establishing acceptable behavior.

So, we're thinking that the time for new homes will be about right after Thanksgiving. We want to make sure that adopters of kittens or Bristol understand what is involved in $ and attention and will promise to spay/neuter when it's time.

As cute as these guys are and as fun as it is to play with them and watch them, there is such a glut of cats/kittens that anything we can do to slow the tide in the community is a good thing.