Kitten Update

So, judging from my comment count, pretty pictures of our romantic fall getaway didn't pique y'all's interest, eh?  Yeah, I got your number now!  I know what you really want:


Can you tell how much she's grown since here?

Ok, I can't give you a hard time.  I'm just about as bad.  Sometimes it seems every waking moment, I've got Kitty on the Brain.  If it's not worrying about arrangements for kitty daycare, it's hand-wringing over why she's still turning her nose up at solid food and ignoring the tiny litterbox we've made for her.

As you can probably tell, I'm getting a mini-crash course in parenthood.  We've been staying up late, and setting our alarms, taking turns getting up in the darkest hours of morning to feed, potty and play with the little one.  I've learned it's not the getting up that's hard, it's the trying to get back to sleep...and the re-getting up when it's time to start the day.

Here's an instant message conversation I had with a coworker earlier this week:

me: You're a parent.  How long can you go without a full night's sleep before you become non-functional?
her: Actually, you get used to it.  Eventually you forget what it's like to sleep for a whole night.
me: How long does it take to adapt?  I was doing pretty well until today.
her: That's how it goes; for a day or two you feel like you're going to crash, and then you feel fine.
me: Oh, so it's a cycle.  So, you did this for what, 5 or 6 years?
her: Trevor's 15 now; I haven't had a good night's sleep since I was pregnant!

Sheesh!  I have to say I have a lot more understanding of what it means to have children.  Are you familiar with the baby dolls commonly used in high schools to teach teens the responsibilities of parenthood?  I think orphaned kittens might be an equally good option.  Think of it, a whole army of young people taking care of the overwhelming number of unwanted animal babies!

So, as a proud parent, I'll share with you some of kitty's progress--as well as some good news.  In the first three days we had her, she went from 6.5 ounces to almost 9.  Tonight, a week later, she's up to 14--almost a pound!  We've moved her into Rosie's old soft-sided cage, so now the dog can stare at her for hours when we're home.  Keeps them both out of trouble!  (We do not trust Rosie alone with her.)

The cat's eyes are fully wide open, and her focus has increased from about an inch to several feet, at least.  She seems to recognize faces, and definitely knows that human hands are good for food, cuddling, wrestling and the occasional chomp.  Which is why she now has Bunny here as her best bud and sparring partner.

She's still a bit wobbly on her feet, but is fast picking up speed, and has begun to make tiny little pounces--most of which land successfully, but many of which end in a back-end collapse or a face-plant.  She's developing her butt-wiggle and her sideways dancing attack.  And she's been instinctively grooming herself, moving from her front paws toward her rear.  It's the cutest dang thing to see her licking her tiny paws and cleaning each miniscule claw just like an adult, then stopping to lick the hand that's holding her.

Before she gets much bigger, I've got to pull out the owner's manual for my camera and see if I can adjust the shutter speed.  Because now most of kitty's pictures look like this:


Have at ye!

Which is why I switched to video!  (Check out that round belly when she starts strolling across the table.  The weird pattern in her fur is where the vet shaved her to check out the "tiny, superficial puncture" cause by a certain canine on the day we found her.  It was so small they couldn't even stitch it; they used surgical glue.)

So what's the big news?  Kitty's got a home waiting for her!  Our friend who lost her cat last year said "Yes!"  (along with things like "cute," "sweet" and "adorable").  Which was a relief to me, because Miss Chef was ready to admit she might have trouble giving her up!  Miss Chef even came up with a name: Fluffernutter.  Cute, but what adult cat wants the indignity of that silly name?  I had already come up with Dixie, but out of supersition, I didn't let it cross my lips until I knew she had a home.  So, of course all of our friends started calling her Fluffernutter, too.  But our adopting friend gets the final say-so, so for me she's still Kitty, Little One, Little Miss, Sweetie...etc.

I still think Dixie's a great name, though.

And the other big news: she slept through the night last night!  Whoo hoo!  I'll do whatever it takes, but I'm very glad kittens develop faster than humans.

UPDATE: Check out this video that Terry forwarded in the comments.  It really does look almost exactly like Little Miss Fluffadixie!