What an update! Three cheers for Daisy and continued jingles for Marlow. And much respect and admiration for all your efforts on behalf of these kitties ! 
6 Likes
Poor Marlow. I hope she’s feeling better today but at least she felt good enough yesterday to give “the” look. Lol
What a good momma daisy is! I hope she finds a wonderful home when all the babies are big enough.
Those pictures are precious. What sweet, sweet little bundles of fluff.
3 Likes
Thank you for those pics and the story. Made my day. I wonder if cats can get that calicinemia like cows?
Maybe you are right and four was too much. But clearly not for Rock Star Daisy.
Vet sounds like a pill. Hopefully you won’t have to deal with them again any time soon.
1 Like
You and Daisy are rock stars! Hopefully Marlow continues on the upward trend and pulls out of whatever was bothering her. Those kittens are SO CUTE!!!
If you do have to feed/supplement them - I’ve had good luck with an eyedropper, until they get the idea of the bottle itself. I suck at syringe feeding, but the large eyedropper, where you can give them just a few drops at a time, seems to work well for me.
BatCo, can you PM me the name of the rescue? I’d like to send them a dribble.
2 Likes
Never a dull moment. More gray hairs by the day.
At last night’s weigh-in the 2 babies who spent the day with Marlow, Randal (the Mezzer!) and Celia told me 2 different stores. After gaining a whopping 22 g in the previous night, Randal lost 2g, while Celia gained 12g. She is still the smallest of the bunch, but has been steadily gaining with Marlow. She had something sticky in her fur, and when I put the babies back with Marlow - I see THIS -
It looks like a burst abscess right next to her teat? I could not believe it. I have more pics if more knowledgeable folks want to investigate.
This poor cat. She spent all day at the vet on Saturday and they didn’t see this? Even if it had not burst yet, surely a puss pocket could have been felt on palpitation? I’m mystified. I don’t doubt that this was the cause for her fever and lack of appetite.
I shared all images with the rescue and they are confused and disappointed with vet as well. Its just frustrating. Back in waiting pattern, hoping I can get some antibiotics for her -and then convince her to eat them!
The babies kept interfering with the wound, so I removed Randal since he stopped gaining with her, and I wanted the wound to be as unjostled as possible.
The good news is that Marlow is eating more, and Celia is still gaining despite nursing near the wound.
Super-Mom Daisy had 7 babies all night. I did my morning ‘litter shift’ and pulled Daisy’s 4 kittens and put them in the warm box so Marlow’s 3 smaller kittens (Randal, Mike, Sully) could get some uninterrupted nursing time. Then I went upstairs to get ready for work. I come back to the garage/cat nursey to find that Daisy jumped out of the cage that I forgot to close and was
walking around the garage.
She’s a little nervous, but is more curious than scared. I think the poor girl just wanted a break. I put her babies back in her crate (they are the ultimate bait). I know she will go back to her kittens eventually, but I need to leave for work and I don’t want to open the garage door with her loose, plus I don’t want to be late for work, so I don’t have hours to spend waiting on her to get back to her kittens.
She ends up going into the warm box and snuggling up in the blankets. We have a nice cuddle session with belly rubs and face skritches. Then she lets me pick her up and put her back in the crate! This is the first time I’ve ever tried to carry her, so I am SO glad it was a nice peaceful transition - I didn’t want to go into the office with my blouse torn or scratches on my face hahaha! Message received - Daisy needs some mama-me time. I’ll park outside the garage and try to cat-proof my garage a bit and give her some solo exploration time tonight. I planned on doing this when the babies got older, but she’s ready now.
Definitely adding professional cat wrangler to my resume.
18 Likes
Poor girlie - my vet has done a single jab of Convenia for abscesses for quite a few years. Although it involves getting cat to vet, at least it doesn’t involve cajoling them into eating nasty tasting crap when they don’t want to eat much in the first place.
Another thought - when Marlow is doing better, and if the 2 moms get along, you may find that they will co-parent, spelling each other off if they are put together with all the kittens. I have seen it time and again in large cat herds in barns. Aunties, teenagers, and non-breeding (either not mature or bottom of the totem pole) will babysit for each other while moms go hunting, get the hell out of the “house” for me time, etc.
3 Likes
Daisy sounds like a little doll. Are you looking for a home for her? She sounds like she would make an excellent pet. Marlow…errr…not so much right now.
Could you put Daisy in the bathroom for a few minutes as a retreat rather than the garage where she might get out?
Got liquid antibiotics which Marlow will eat when mixed in with tuna (thank god!) I haven’t been able to get a good view of the wound, but she is acting perky and her appetite has improved greatly. She was doing so well that I put Randall back in with her, and he gained overnight, so I think I can go back to the 6-2 litter split.
Last night I gave Daisy the opportunity to roam the garage, and of course, cat logic dictated that once she was invited to do something, she couldn’t possibly do it hahaha. Oh well, at least she had the option.
Even though these gals are from the same colony, they had different cliques. Marlow was bonded to an older ear-tipped female, and Daisy prowled around with 2 young gray boys. Its possible if given the chance to mingle they could help each other, or Marlow could attack the smaller, younger Daisy - I’ve seen Marlow run Daisy off from the feeding station before we trapped them so I’m inclined to not let them both run loose around the garage together. Marlow is more feral, so I think she would just hide and urinate in fear, whereas Daisy is more curious about “what is all this stuff?”
My goal is to get Daisy adopted as well, but I know its hard to turn a feral cat into a good housepet on a short timeline. She’s less than a year old, so that is in my favor, but its still an uphill battle. I know my senior housecats would NOT react well if I tried to bring her in the house, plus I have promised DH up and down that I will not bring her in the house since if she freaks out, its guaranteed urine and destruction. So the garage is the best I can do. She does allow me to pet her, but it is still very much on her terms and I’ll get a swat if I mess with her kennel or babies for too long. On a scale of feral (1) to fat house cat (10) I’d put her at a 4.5.
I’m just happy that Marlow is feeling better and all the babies are gaining weight again!
8 Likes
Yesterday the vet finally looked at the abscess pics and decided that Marlow should be brought back in for surgery to make sure the abscess is draining properly . 
So I had to load that poor cat into a carrier again and bring her to this vet last night. Randal and Celia spent all night and of all today in the mix with all 8 babies with Daisy. 
Hoping Marlow’s surgery goes well and she is done having to go into the vet. It stresses her out so much, and Randal and Celia do better with her.
On a cute note, Daisy’s babies are one day short of 3 weeks, so they are starting to discover grooming and how to use their little bodies.
Jessie vid
I bring them into the house for a brief monitored play time and “uncle” Milo is obsessed with the babies. He is so curious about them and loves to groom them.
12 Likes
Jingles for Marlow! Love all your kitty pics and the video. What a journey !
Poor Marlow! I hope she does OK with the surgery. Does the vet donate all services or does the rescue pay any vet bills? I hope you don’t have to pay vet bills. You’re doing more than enough already.
Adorable pictures and video! Daisy is a gem. Is she losing weight from nursing all those kittens?
Poor Marlow! I hope this is her last visit to the vet for awhile and she continues to improve.
Daisy is a trooper! What a sweet momma cat. She must be getting tired of all the nursing but they all look like they’re in good condition.
Just so cute, all of them!
Vet gives a discounted rate to the rescue, and the rescue pays. I just have to bring kitty in and provide aftercare.
I’ve been giving Daisy KMR in addition to the Royal Canin kibble and canned kitten food, but with all these kittens she still is a little thin. I had her for a little over a week before she gave birth and tried my best to fatten her up in that time frame. She’s a pretty good eater, just so tiny and young. It will be interesting to see if she can fill out when the babies start to wean.
3 Likes
They are all so adorable! I could watch that video of baby “washing” over and over. Little Daisy is a superstar. Once she has figured out this whole “tame” cat thing, she will be easy to place.
I could watch kittens or kitten videos all day!! 
2 Likes
So remember I was told to take Marlow into the vet on Wednesday night since the vet finally looked at the pics we sent him and he now thinks he needs to preform surgery. I’m hesitant to do this since her kittens do best nursing on her, and I have been giving her antibiotics since Monday with success, she is doing much better, she is eating tons and her babies are gaining weight. But since its the rescue’s call and not mine, I bring Marlow into the vet Wed night in a trap per their request.
I speak to the vet and his techs to emphasize for them to call me as soon as she is ready to be picked up since her kittens loose weight whenever she is gone. This is the 2nd time in a week this poor cat has been to this vet. I am reassured up and down that they will call me when she is ready - it will most likely be Thursday afternoon.
Thursday comes and goes and I hear nothing. I call and email, but no responses. All 8 babies are with Daisy, who is doing the best she can, but there just isn’t enough milk to go around.
Friday morning I check my email and the vet office emailed at 1:30am saying that the doctor got super busy and will work on Marlow 1st thing in the morning. I go to work on Friday and keep my phone on me so I don’t miss a call. I call at noon and they casually mention that Marlow is ready for pickup, and when I ask why they didn’t call me, they said they had called the rescue a hour ago to let them know she was ready.
I’m so frustrated. Oh, and it turns out surgery was not needed, the wound was healing fine just as I thought it was. They just cleaned the wound and shaved her entire belly to ‘keep it cleaner’. This is a feral cat who is going back to her outdoor colony in 3 weeks when her babies are weaned, and they shaved her entire belly. grumble. So this poor nursing mother was at this vet office from Wednesday 9pm to Friday at noon just to clean a wound.
I leave work (my boss is super cool when it comes to me leaving work for critter care) and pick up Marlow. I want to get her back to her babies ASAP. The vet office is so chaotic when I get there, it takes them an hour to get Marlow to me. The techs are afraid of her since she is hissing and spitting. I don’t double check the trap since I’m in a hurry to get her out of that place.
About 4 miles from home I hear the trap being jostled. I drive a cross-over and I had Marlow in the hatchback cargo area. I check the rear view mirror and see a tabby cat face starring back at me. Little Miss Adventure BUSTED OUT OF THE TRAP and was now loose in my car. The tech didn’t close up the back door properly and this savvy street cat thought she had a ticket to freedom.
I have no choice to keep driving. Fortunately she stays in the cargo area. She is so stressed she is panting and yeowling. We get home and I know that if I get her kennel w/ her babies in it she will eventually go into it. I secure the garage, get the kennel set in an advantageous area and ‘bait’ it with her hungry kittens. I open the back door of my car and smarty pants Marlow calmly exits, sniffs a few things and then walks into the kennel to be reunited with her babies. I think we have both had enough stress for one day. I crack a well-earned white claw and vow to never take these cats to that vet again.
So that was Friday. Everyone is doing well now. Marlow is nursing 3 of her 4 babies and all are gaining weight. Her 4th baby, Mike, has decided that he wants to be part of Daisy’s brood, so fair enough. Marlow nurses 3, Daisy nurses 5. Not a bad split. Poor Bo Peep started to get goopy eyes, so I had to do lots of warm daily compresses and put erythromycin in, thankfully it is already clearing up.
Daisy’s kids are now over 3 weeks old, Marlow’s will be 3 weeks tomorrow. Her’s are a little behind growth -wise so I’m hoping they will catch up. Daisy’s litter are starting to explore more, and are dabbling with eating some soft food. They are getting to the adorable stage where they are starting to play with each other.
18 Likes
That’s a reality show I’d watch
6 Likes
