Amanda
On the evening of June 1, 2000, Amanda did not seem to be feeling very well. She seemed very sleepy and lethargic. By the morning of June 2, 2000 she had died and her sister, Amelia, was trying to cover her with her own body. Amanda was buried in the yard and we will be paying extra special attention to Amelia now that she no longer has her sister to keep her company. Poor Amanda had such a rough start in life but thank goodness her last several weeks were spent contentedly and happy. Here is Amanda's story:
Abigail and Family
Some people called the Linden Animal Shelter to have me picked up. But wait! Don't take me away! Don't you know I have babies??? Nobody would listen. Here I sat all alone in a cage wondering what was happening to my babies that were left behind. Finally, I think it was 2 days later, those people called back to have the babies picked up too. The animal control officer could only find 2 of them. (One is black and white girl named Amelia and the other is gray tiger striped girl named Amanda.) The poor things - their eyes weren't even open yet! They were just born around May 8, 2000. But was I ever glad to see them! And our luck just got even better. We were taken to a foster home and now have a nice soft blanket to sleep on in a nice large crate. Ahhhh, I just purr and purr while snuggling with my 2 remaining children. I am very comfortable here. I don't even mind when the dogs come over to take a look at us.
We all went to the veterinarian today and I got my shots and tested negative for Feline Aids and Leukemia. (No worms either, yippee!) The vet did notice that I do not have enough milk for my babies. Because they had been away from me for so long, my milk had started to dry up. So my foster mom would need to start bottle feeding them. She was up most of the night with them and just could not get them to take the bottle. So the next morning, my babies were taken away from me again, but only temporarily. They spent the morning at the vet's office where vet tech Michelle (aka The Kitten Queen) worked with them and got them jump started on the bottle. At noon when my foster mom came back home with them, I was frantic because they had been gone for so long but as soon as I saw my babies and they were reunited with me, I calmed right down. Now I understand that my foster mom is only helping us. She comes every couple of hours to bottle feed the babies so I no longer have to worry that they will starve. And the best part is, they get to stay with me too and I can keep them clean and warm. I am also getting formula to drink because I lap it right up and if I get hydrated enough and the babies keep trying to nurse, I might just get my milk back!
Well, my milk did come back, has been back for over a week now, and the kids are now growing bigger and stronger by the day. Take a look at them now at about 3 weeks of age:
This is Amanda - she is the smallest.
This is Amelia. She is a big girl and her eyes are open, it is just that darned flash from the camera!