Conference misery::feline

	Jan,

	Best of luck with Cindy B. - I was at the Brody Shelter last
	Friday, saw her there and was really concerned about her.
	I'm glad she's got a good foster home for the time-being !!

	Keep us posted !!!

    
    What wonderful foster parents Cindy found!!!!!!!  I'm sure Cindy
    will get the BEST care she possibly could....and I'm sure she's
    very HAPPY to have a room all to herself!!!
    
    Keep us posted....
    
    Sandy

I passed on the encouraging words to my husband (the
official litter-box cleaner and obviously a cat-lover)
and his most memorable comment was:



We're starting to sound like something you'd find in the
Nevada desert...

Brown's Cathouse and Llama Ranch

    Did I just miss something?  How did Llamas get into this?
    K
    

    Oh Karen...you just need to understand Jan and Ron to know
    that they actually have two beautiful Llama boys (yup real ones)
    ...along with their dozen of cats.....the foster kitty.....and 
    dogs!!!!!  How they do it...I'll never know!!!!!
    
    Did you know they have shows (like cat shows) for Llamas!!!!  
    Really interesting topic...I could sit and talk to Jan for hours!!!
    
    Sandy

    That sounds perfect!!! Thanks Sandy.  I have always liked what I have
    read about Llamas.  There is a mountain trip you can take in NH that
    uses Llamas as your pack animal and you sleep with them and everything!
    Karen

Just to let you know that Cindy B. is eating well,
purring lots and is getting MORE pregnant -- I can't
believe we have 2-3 weeks to wait for those kittens!

She has also started growing back her hair, you can
even see the stripe pattern in her fur on her back --
instead of bare skin.  She really has a sweet face,
with some black whiskers mixed in with the white ones,
orange nose leather and spots around the base of the
whiskers.  And BIG eyes, especially when she has just
gotten a glimpse of the dog and every hair is standing
on end -- really looks silly in the balder spots!  Once
it all grows in she is going to be one beautiful cat.

Sorry for any confusion I caused with the llamas, I 
didn't really 'introduce' them here in Feline but they
are definitely part of the menagerie.  As Sandy said,
we have two -- one will be my herd sire when he is old
enough (only 16 mos. old at this time, needs to be about
2 yrs. old to breed) and the other is his gelding
companion.  We've found them to be much like cats in
temperament, affectionate in their own way on their own
terms -- and curious about anything/anyone new!  I just
wish their genetics were understood as well as cats seem
to be, I'd love to be able to breed them and have a good
idea of what size/color/length of wool I'll get.  But at
this point that is somewhat of a guess, this is still a
relatively new industry and much is yet unknown.  For
instance, most of the medicine used to vaccinate them
(rabies for example) is not officially approved for use
on llamas; no one has done the studies that PROVE it
works although practical experience has taught vets what
to use.  Oh well, it's an adventure.

Cindy says Hi to all her friends from the Shelter, and
that she definitely likes her private room!


Jan

    A siamese breeder friend of mine also has Llamas.  She has three, and
    has plans to breed too.  I do know that they had to move their whole
    male to a corral and barn in the front of their property, and then put
    their female in a corral and barn in back of their property, because
    the male was going crazy (kicking down fences and the like) trying to
    get to the female, but my friend wasn't ready to breed them yet.
    
    Jo

Not to get off the subject of Cindy 8^)  but that's a
good sign that the male llama was so aggressive -- 
shows he was ready to "do his duty"!  Since I have seen
my little stud convince a female to lie down for him
(the approved poistion for mating llamas) when he was a
mere 9 months old and he won't be physically ready until
he's about 2 years old, I think we have a similarly
eager guy in our pasture.   I can sympathize with your
friend too, trying to convince them to breed to fit her
schedule -- you can't exactly explain it to the llamas!


Jan

    As long as we are talking about breeding positions 8^}
    What is the best way to ah.. help or hold a female who likes to sit or
    lay down at inconvenient times?
    *blush*

    It isn't easy to help or hold a female during breeding unless you know
    her really well, she knows you (we are assuming this is your own cat
    and not one that is in for breeding.  If they are in for breeding I
    usually don't attempt to "help" out.), and your male is not upset by
    you getting in there and getting your hands wet (so to speak).
    
    I have helped my males by grabbing a female's scruff and offering it to
    them (especially when the female was aggressive with them).  I have
    also distracted a female by keeping a hold in the back of her head and
    scratching her under the chin.  That way she won't want to roll over
    because if she does you might stop scratching her chin. :')
    
    The most unusual thing that has ever happened during a breeder was the
    first time we bred Mogee.  Both she and the male were novices (which
    isn't a good plan to begin with).  While he was trying to mount her,
    she started kicking her back legs out straight behind her.  Kind of
    reminded me of an exercise that we do in aerobics class.  You know,
    down on all fours, then lift your legs one at a time back and up? 
    Anyway, I was absolutely consumed by laughter when this occured so was
    no help at all to Limoges or to Moody.  Wonder if she will do this
    again the next time we try to breed her? :'D  What a riot.  And poor
    Moody was so confused.  He ended up having to mimic her movements in
    order to avoid being kicked.  So picture this, the two of them doing
    this weird movement in unison!!!  It was like some bizarre mating
    dance.  I haven't laughed so hard in my life. :')
    
    Jo

    Wow...you learn something new everyday. I never thought that you 
    might have to "help out" some of the times!!! Now Jan let's hope 
    you don't have to help out the Llamas!!
                                               
    Sandy

Sandy, you should see what they do with thoroughbreds!  :^0

According to my books, llamas are usually so involved in
'the act' that you can do anything to help or check out
the positioning and they won't even notice!  Since our
herd sire will be a novice we fully expect to have to get
up-close-and-personal to make sure he's in the correct
position, at least the first few times.  Not something
I EVER expected to be doing...


Jan

I can't believe it, Cindy B. is still pregnant -- she
doesn't look much like a cat any more, more like a
fur-covered grapefruit with four legs, a head and a
tail!  We were just grateful she didn't deliver during
our blizzard and need any vet care, which is what we
expected (Murphy's law you know) and had no idea what
we'd do!

She CAN'T get much bigger, it's gotta be soon...



Jan

    Jan, sometimes they can amaze you at how big they can get!  But it
    does start to sound imminent.  With Ferrets litter she ate til the
    end and woke me at 3:30 am with a little squeek and a contraction
    where she stretched her hind legs out straight.  At this point we moved
    her to her nest box from our bed.  The kittens are now back on our
    bed and all are happy!  Gotta get a king size bed soon!
    Karen

Cindy Bouchard would like to proudly announce that
somewhere between 10:00pm last night and 3:00am this
morning she produced three lovely little kittens!
Mother and kittens are doing fine, the kittens were
3-1/2 oz., 4-1/2 oz. and 4-1/2 oz. at birth and had
gained 1/2 oz. by this morning -- the milk bar is open.
They are all adorable, sort of dark grey tigers with
varying amount of white; so far they don't seem to have
picked up their mother's ruddy/gold coloring.


The first was born between 10:00 and 11:00pm, and has
me concerned -- its back feet are all twisted around 
and/or bent so that if the little thing could walk it
would be walking on its knees.  The tail is kind of
scrunched up at the base too.  I called the vet this
morning and discussed it, his feeling was that it might
very well straighten out by itself, being due to the 
position it was jammed into before birth.  Does this
sound right?  Other than that it seems fine, the legs
and tail move and can push against my fingers so they
aren't paralyzed.  Should I begin physical therapy?

The second was born between 12:00pm and 1:00am and the
third arrived between 1:00 and 3:00 am -- they are the
two slightly larger ones.  They are perfect in every
respect.

Wow, what an adventure!  They seem to be active and 
noisy and eating well, Cindy is the picture of
contentment just looked relaxed and proud.  She doesn't
object to having me handling them, quite the social
young lady.

Anybody want a kitten?


Jan  and_the_Wilton_maternity_ward

    Jan, 
    
     Congrats on the new babies! I had one born that was kind of scrunched
    when I was a kid, and it did straighten out, and was not only fine, but
    the nicest kitty in the litter! I hope your little one does the same.
    
     I'd hide those babes though! Every time Cheryl's Bill goes out of
    town, she starts trying to track down a cat to 'surprise' him with on
    his return! ;-)
    
     Cheryl, I don't think they'll be ready to go before Bill comes home,
    unless he's going to be gone 6 to 8 weeks this time! ;-) Steady now!
    You're perfect addition will find you one of these days!
    
    Yonee
     

    Oh what great news for little Cindy!!!   I bet you and Ron didn't
    get too much sleep last night...but it must have been so exciting!!!
    
    Did you call Grandma Priscilla yet????
    
    Sandy

    Cheryl,
    
    I believe there is a note put in today re. a "desperate" cat in need of
    a home.  Something about wanting to get a dog instead because the child
    is allergic to the cat.  They'll even "pay" you to take the cat.
    

    Cheryl, what about Goldie?  She is still looking!
    
    
    Congratulations to Cindie!!
    
    Having had babies only 3 weeks ago myself, I still have it fresh on my
    mind.  It is a very exciting time, I don't care how many times you go
    through it!  What type of scale did you weight them on?
    Karen

     Cheryl...I see many opportunities knocking at your door!!!! You
    could even have the pick of 5 strays at my house who are also
    very desparate in wanting a family of their own!!!!!
    
    I can just picture it now...Bill comes home to 10 new cats and
    2 new Llama's!!!!!
    
    Sandy

    But Cheryl, 
    
     Those cats ARE special, or the FELINERs wouldn't be so concerned about
    them! You can't tell if they're that special furface if you don't go
    meet them! ;-)
    
     (How was that, gang?!)  8-)
    
    Yonee

    
    Right on, Yonee! 
    
    Of course, I think ALL cats are special or I wouldn't have 8 and
    feeding two strays in my own neighborhood (two strays now but I know
    they have a habit of spreading the word to others where a meal can be
    found, right Sandy?).
    
    Pat & Clan
    

    Yonee...we can plan on dropping off a litter of kittens and my
    5 strays on Cheryl's porch...and then she wouldn't know who to blame!!!
    
    I think the perfect match would be my Happy Cat that is living
    in my cellar. (ha ha ha !!)  He's cute...he's desparate to find
    a home and even though he hasn't purred yet he is real good at
    hissing/spitting.  
    
    

    Pat...your absolutely right.  I say give it another month and
    you will be feeding about 5 strays!!!  It's so sad...there are 
    just too many unwanted kitties in this world.
    
    Sandy

    I think we should all bring kitties up to Cheryl's! Then she REALLY
    wouldn't know who to blame, but I'm sure I'd be right on the top of
    that list! ;-) I wonder why that is? 8-)
    
    Cheryl, you're looking too hard for that right kitty! Remember when you
    went to see Chubs and Zelda? You were looking for ONE, SHORTHAIR! You
    brought home TWO, LONGHAIR! See my point here? ;-) Like I said, that
    special addition will find you when the time is right. They always do!
    It's their job! ;-)
    
    Yonee
    

This is all great, thanks for the congrats -- which 
really belong to Cindy B. of course -- but can anyone
offer an opinion on the deformed kitten?  Is this
something that I can assume will straighten out, or
should I be seriously preparing for euthenasia?  From
what I can see he/she won't be able to walk like that,
I can only believe life would be too painful.  The vet
said to "wait a little while" but didn't give me any
idea if he meant days or weeks -- is there a rule, like
"if it is still so crunched after x days, it won't ever
be any better"?  The kitten seems happy and vigorous
so I'm not rushing into anything, I'm just trying to be
prepared.

This is really putting a damper on my happiness and 
I was hoping some of you had experienced this before 
and could tell me what I should be doing, if anything,
or what to expect.  

All help greatly appreciated by Cindy B. and me!


Jan   who_can_go_home_soon_and_play_with_kittens

    Hey you guys.  I created this really nice Generic/Rathole topic
    just for discussions like the ones happening in 504.21,22,24,25,
    26,27,28,29,30, and 33.  Can we take at least take the discussion
    related to llamas over there?
    
    Thanks all,
    
    Jan
    Moderator, FELINE

Re:  .23   Sorry Karen, I forgot to answer your question
about the scale -- it's just a kitchen scale, only goes
up to a couple of pounds (now that would be one big
kitten).  I can't for the life of me remember the brand,
just whatever we found at the local Lechemere.

The two bigger kittens are up to 7 oz. and the smallest
is holding at 6+ oz.   All you breeders out there, does
that sound like a reasonable weight gain?  How can I
tell if Cindy B. is producing enough milk?  Everybody
seems content, I assume the kittens would be yelling with
hunger if she didn't have enough milk and she looks 
healthy too.  They are so adorable, this is really fun!


Jan

    Kittens should double their birth weight by the first week.  I weigh my
    kittens in grams, and they usually gain about 10 grams a day, sometimes
    more.  
    
    I would wait on the kitten with the birth defect.  The vet is probably
    right, it is probably a presentation problem.  The kitten was probably
    crowded in the womb, and thus the legs are turned backwards.  I had a
    friend who had a Birman kitten born with it's back legs turned
    backwards and they straightened out.  You probably should begin some
    gentle manipulation on them.  Or at least get a vet in the see the
    problem.  I usually don't take my kittens out to the vet until after
    they have had their first shots.
    
    Congrats,
    
    Jo

    Jan,
    
     I think I wrote in here somewhere, but can't seem to find it, but I
    had a kitten born kinda scrunched like you describe, and she
    unscrunched, and was the best kitty in the litter. We kept her of
    course, after what we went though worrying about her! ;-)
    
     Hope this helps,
    
     Yonee
      

Well, today the kittens (and Cindy B) got to go on an
outing -- to the vet.  They have just started opening
their eyes (in the past few days) and they looked kind
of "funny" to me.  Not knowing exactly what newborn
kitten eyes SHOULD look like and being somewhat overly
protective, we decided they could go along to the vet
today with one of ours having his annual checkup.  The
vet diagnosed a minor eye infection and gave my husband
some sort of "cream" to put in twice a day.  All in all,
no big deal and I'm very relieved!

The vet also carefully examined our little deformed one
and said the legs don't seem to have structural problems
so "kitty massage" is in order, and to keep him on a
carpeted floor to make him use those legs.  His tail is
permanently crooked but is only a cosmetic problem, it
has good circulation and won't interefere with the
"elimination" process.  More good news!

Yesterday they were at 9 oz for the little guy, and 10 oz
for the two bigger ones -- their coats are so pretty and
they are crawling around pretty actively so I'm happy.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement, it's time like
this that I realize how little I really know about my
beloved felines.

JanB

    Hi Jane!  Real glad to hear the babies are doing well!
    The vet probably gave you either Terramycin or a form of
    Chloramphenicol ointment.  What I have done is this:
    1. if the kittens eye or eyes are only shut with just a little sleepy
    in them, not real discharge or heavy gook,  I only use some steril
    saline solution (for contact lens wearers, the gentle stuff) on a
    cotton ball and gently wipe til the eye comes open.  You can also get a
    lubricant eye ointment (mostly petroleum jelly) to put in to prevent
    this from happening.  You may need to do this 2-3 times a day.  I
    prefer this to actually have to use medication in the eye if it is not
    necessary.
    
    2.  if the eye is real gooky, wiping clean with the above procedure and
    then using the medicated ointment works well.  Terramycin is a form of 
    Tetracycline and can stain the kittens teeth yellow.  This of course
    may not be a concern.
    
    In general if you follow step one diligiently there may not be a need
    for step two! :*)  Terrmycin once a day isn't too bad either in combo
    with #1.
    
    Be careful about letting them go out of the house or having strangers
    handle them before their first shots.  You don't want to go catching
    anything nasty 8')
    Karen
    my little ones are almost five weeks old now!  real cute !!
    

Hi,  I've got a friend who's looking for a little
boy kitten, and grey tabby was on their list of
"options".  The one with the crooked tail sounds
real nice.  I had one with his whole tail scrunced
up into one little ball and he was the best cat
around.  When would Cindy's be ready to leave the
nest?
Sue Yarger
264-3110

I'm ashamed to admit, as the owner of 13 cats myself,
that I have no idea what sex these adorable kittens are.
We have decided that they are male or female, but don't
know which is which!

As things currently stand, we will be taking the kittens
back to the Pat Brody Shelter (actually straight to the
vet, not the shelter itself) on May 15.  The kittens
will be weaned by then and will get their first set of
shots before they can be adopted.

I have had one interested "party" come and see them, but
I don't think anything is certain.  The Shelter is 
responsible for the adoption process, I just provide
food, shelter and playtime (and right now, eye medicine).

The kittens are just about ready to leave the nest and
start exploring, now that they have learned to hiss and
have their eyes open.  The fun begins!


JanB

What fun -- Saturday morning the first kitten left the box
on his own!  Poor Cindy B. was so confused, here was one
of her little ones wandering around the room with two 
staying in the box -- no matter who she sat near, somebody 
else cried.  I wound up sitting on the floor with two of 
the kittens tottering around between my legs (and chewing
on my fingers and toes 8^) and she solved her dilemma by 
grabbing the one still in the box and dumping him in my
lap, then jumping in herself!  What a happy little family
we were, until my leg went to sleep and I just had to get
up.

By Sunday all three were out of the box on their own, the
first born ("Andre") is the most adventurous by far!  He
has been almost all the way to the other side of the room,
quite a distance for his little legs.  He's the one with
the mis-shapen legs, they look pretty good now -- all this
crawling around on the rug will help strengthen them the
rest of the way, as the vet and people in this notesfile
said it would.  His tail is still scrunched, I think that's
permanent and causes no problems.  

The white-faced one ("Whitey") is torn between following
Andre and Cindy B. on their travels and staying in the box
to play with the other white-footed kitten ("the Screamer").

The Screamer isn't as forward as the other two, he seems
more content to climb around in the box and not get too
close to those scary big people.  He has made it out a few
times and I've started spending a little extra time with
him to be sure he is well socialized.  

Andre loves people, what a charmer -- and the look on his 
face as he stares up at you with those big eyes!!  He is
learning to crawl around on my legs and is trying to get
his legs to take him in the direction he intends a little
more reliably!  Cindy B. is finding it hard to keep them 
all together, she does lots of little mrrps to encourage/
warn/reassure/discipline them while trying to watch three 
directions at once.  

As of this morning, Andre weighed 14-1/2 oz. and the other
two weighed in at 16-1/2 oz.!  Cindy B. is growing her fur
back in and remains a wonderful mother, a little concerned
about her newly mobile kittens but all in all pretty calm
about it.  She did manage to get a closet door open and
relocated the family, a last ditch effort to keep them 
penned in I think!

These guys will be hard to give up, but I know they'll find
good homes -- hopefully with some noters so we can keep in
touch!


JanB

As of this past weekend dear little Andre has decided its
time for solid food -- Science Diet kitten food is okay
by him!  Of course he eats and eats and eats but when
he's done there's very little actually gone from the 
dish.  That's when Cindy B wanders over and polishes it
off!  The other two have sniffed the food (and had their
faces gently pushed into it) but so far the taste/smell
has not enticed them to put any of it in their mouths.
Some kittens are just a little slow...

They are learning to climb now, preferably on people so
they can also chew fingers and toes as they go by.  What
an active little bunch -- they are *running* all over the
room now, no more timid ventures out from their box.  We
never see them in their box anymore.

Now all we have to do is convince them to use the litter
box and not the newspapers underneath it!


JanB

I don't believe this -- I took the kittens to see our
vet on Saturday and the news is all bad.  Ever since 
they were born I said their eyes looked "funny", but
couldn't figure out exactly how.  There isn't a lot to
look at on a small kitten, especially as they squirm
around!  We took them to the vet about a month ago and
had it diagnosed as a minor infection and came home with
ointment.  The eyes improved but still weren't "right".
So I made another appointment to have my vet look at
them again.

Saturday I was told that the problem is that they have
no upper eyelids!  I can't believe we couldn't tell that
ourselves, I feel so foolish.  I guess I just didn't want
to believe it was anything that major, I kept hoping it
was just an infection and my inexperience with kittens.
One of them has an ulcerated eye from all the hair 
getting into it, so they are back onto the ointment and
a referral to Dr. Bachrach (sp?).

The specialist basically said that there is a possibility
of surgerical repair but that the surgery is very 
involved, they'd have to wait until almost full grown to
have it done, and they'd have constant eye infections
while waiting -- put them down.  He didn't even want to
see them, although he knew it was a harsh answer to have
to give and was sorry to do so.

Fortunately Priscilla doesn't give up that easily, she
suggested I call the Drs. Schunk up in Amherst, NH and
we're off to see them tomorrow afternoon.  Here's hoping
they can offer a more positive solution, please keep
your fingers crossed for little Andre, Whitey and the
Screamer.

This is NOT the fun part of being a foster parent but it's
part of the job I guess...

Thanks for letting me share this, I'm heartbroken to 
think of losing these guys.  They just figured out how to
climb up into the seat of the rocking chair this weekend,
everytime I walked into their room three little kittens
were all snuggled up together on the cushion.  Sigh...


JanB

    Jan my heart goes out to you and my prayers are with
    the little babies!!
    
    For any of the breeders out there...has this ever happen
    to your litters?? Is it possible Cindy B had some type of virus
    while pregnant that could have caused this?  Where it 
    happened to all the kittens in the litter...is it possible
    to be some type of genetic defect?
    
    Good luck with Dr. Schunk and please keep us posted.  He is a
    wonderful vet that has taken care of some of our hard shelter
    cases!
    
    Sandy
    

    It may be a genetic defect, or it may have been due to exposure to
    something during the pregnancy.  Hard to say.  The specialist might be
    able to shed some light on that.  But, even if it was genetic, at least
    the momcat is spayed and it won't happen again.
    
    I have never had anything like this happen in any of my litters.  I am
    sure it must be heartbreaking for Jan.  By all appearances, the kittens
    seem to be happy, healthy, and all that.  It must have been hard to
    hear the specialist say that they should be put to sleep.  But I am
    sure that he was trying to be practical, knowing that the kittens were
    shelter kittens, and that most shelters don't have the kind of money it
    would take to cure three kittens of this problem.
    
    Jo

Jo is right, the really sad part is that other than the
eye problems the kittens are healthy and happy.  If they
were obviously suffering it would make euthenasia the
kind thing to do but this feels like killing kittens
just because they were born to a shelter cat and aren't
perfect!  Priscilla had already said that if the eye
specialist could do anything that the Shelter would find
the money somehow, not a practical decision but I love
her for it!!  We would of course do whatever we could to
help and just trust that something would work out.

We're hoping the vets tomorrow have a more positive
response, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much.
It's gonna be hard to go home tonight and put ointment
in their little eyes knowing we may not be doing it much
longer...

Wish us luck,


JanB

    Did the specialist say whether the surgery would cure the kittens of
    future eye problems?  If they may still end up with ongoing eye
    problems, that could also make them difficult to find homes for.  There
    is so much to consider.
    
    Jan, I know that this is not of any comfort to you, but if they were
    purebred kittens, with the same problems, the answer would probably be
    the same.  So, the fact that they are shelter kittens doesn't put them
    in any more risk in my mind.  Hang in there.  I know how attached you
    can get to baby kittens in such a short time.
    
    Jo

    This episode captures perfectly for me the emotional roller coaster
    that this conference can be.  From giggles of delight to wrenching
    grief all in the space of "next unseen".  And with few exceptions
    these are cats and people I know only from words over a wire.  Just
    what is it about cats and cat people?
    
    len (wishing he could give all the world's cats lives of joy).
      

    I think the bottom line is the quality of life that these little ones
    will have.  If the eye cannot exist without the lid and it has to be
    removed, many cats are fine if they are sightless.  Finding homes may
    be difficult but not impossible.  We have had a cat in here that could
    not see and she led a good life.  Remember, cats or animals do not
    think about things the way that we do.  But they can live and be happy
    without sight.  It really makes me ill sometimes to think that "if only
    we had the money" we could fix them.  It stinks when you are limited to
    only certain things because of this.  I hope all has gone well with
    them today.  Babies are the most beautiful part of rearing cats.  I
    have now got 9 instead of 10.  We did try everything and money couldn't
    help.  We spent it and still lost the little one.  I now look at all of
    them that are left and am that much more thankful. 
    Karen

Well, Cindy B. and her three little kittens have ended
their foster living arrangement with us and been returned
to the Shelter (actually to their vet for kitten shots and
spaying Cindy B.).  We are pretty sure we have found a
wonderful DEC home for Cindy B., and no, it isn't with us.
She's a pretty cat and wonderfully affectionate, but since
she wasn't fond of having too many cats around we just
aren't a good home for her.  She had her own private room
for the fostering and that worked fine, would be much too
lonely for long term living.

The kittens will be going to another foster mom and will
go to see Dr. Bacharach in late June, here's hoping he can
do something for them.

All in all it turned out to be quite an experience, not
totally the joyous one that I anticipated -- but as future
llama breeders we know that sometimes things won't work
out perfectly and we have to be prepared to deal with it.
This gave us an example, and we have survived.

In the meantime we fully expect to continue our "foster
parenting", love those tiny furfaces!!


JanB

    Jan,
    I am very lhappy to hear that things are working out well.  Lessons in
    life can be hard at times.  If you actually stop to think about the
    absolute numbers of kittens born, the few sorrowful things that happen
    really are low in number.  It is hard when you are attached though.  I
    try to get over things with kittens as quickly as possible and look for
    the bright little faces that are still with me.  
    (For example this morning I awoke to find a tiny 6 week old next to my
    head and purring when I looked at him 8^}.  We have not lost any, yet
    this scene would make me happy!)
    Karen