Our 13 year old cat, Cali, passed away this summer while we were in Canada. She had a tumor on her head for several months and when Jason took her in to the vet, they said it was likely cancer and gave us a list of possible medical options that all cost near or over $1000. We were told that a good life expectancy for a cat is 13-15 years, so we knew her time would be near. She didn't react when we touched the tumor and her eating and sleeping patterns were unchanged, so we just let her be. Our neighbors, Sasha and David, texted us to share the news about finding her body and to let us know that they buried her in the empty lot next to our home. We told the kids the news while driving in the car. Grace burst into tears, and Jeremy sat quietly... for a minute... because then he said, "When are we getting a new cat?"
Months have passed, and Jason and the kids haven't stopped talking about getting a new pet. Personally, I would be ok without a pet- they're work, in my opinion! Well, on Labor Day weekend, the topic came up again over dinner. I casually mentioned that one of my former student's mom had posted pictures of some kittens they were hoping to find homes for. I showed Jason and the kids and they immediately wanted to go see them. I called the family and they invited us over. As soon as we saw them, Jason and the kids were in love... I thought we were going to get one kitten, but Jason and the kids' responses were, "They're sisters! We can't separate them!" or "Each kid can take care of a kitten." or "They're just so cute!" So... we brought home 2 kittens!
Meet Cupcake (Grace's kitty) and Daisy (Jeremy's kitty)
They can be very sweet! Their mom wasn't able to take care of them, so they're pretty tiny and didn't get to have any mother's milk. We got them as 5 week old kittens, and their mouths are so small that they are barely able to eat dry kitten food. We've been feeding them kitten canned food and milk replacer. It has been a few weeks now, and they've started being able to eat dry kitten food (thank goodness- the canned stuff smells disgusting). They are still learning how to clean themselves, so Jason has given them a few water baths.
In the few weeks we've had them, though it has been fun to have little kittens, it has also been a lot of work. We didn't have a litter box in the house for our other cats- they just sat at the door until we let them outside. With such little ones, we can't let them out yet, so they've been using a litter box. Yuck, I hate the smell!!!! During the day, we leave them in the kids' bathroom. They've been doing pretty well with that (haven't torn anything up yet).
They have become increasingly playful (especially Crazy Daisy) and though they have plenty of "lovey dovey" moments with each other, they also fight and wrestle a lot! We're now training them not to get on the furniture and not to scratch the curtains or anything fabric! Despite the work, Jason and the kids totally love them to pieces and are so thrilled to have them in our household!
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