FIFAs in the House |
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Monday |
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The couple adopting Sly and Robbie came to get them Saturday morning, and the boys were in fine shape for their big day. They sailed off without a squawk, and Samantha took their departure pretty well. She's alone in the villa now, but we let her out to wander the first floor when we're downstairs and the dogs are outside. We hear Sly and Robbie are adjusting well to their new home. Updates to follow.
We spent the rest of Saturday hiking along the Gunpowder River with friends from Baltimore, then drove home Saturday night. By noon on Sunday, our 24 kitten-free hours were almost up.
On Saturday, Homeward Trails had agreed to take five bottle-baby kittens that had been dropped off at the King George County animal shelter Friday morning. We heard they seemed relatively healthy, but one kitten had arrived at the shelter with a broken leg. A local vet generously offered to examine, splint and bandage the kitten at no charge, but the kittens needed more care than the shelter could offer. We drove out to Fairfax City to meet a Homeward Trails adopter who had volunteered to give the kittens a ride north.
By 2:30pm we were back at 50K, bottle-feeding five voracious little furballs. They'd been fed over the weekend by KG County shelter staff, but they still seemed ravenous, and on the ride home they hadn’t been shy about letting us know that. They quieted down considerably after filling their bellies.
After last month's experience with Les Miz, we couldn’t help but feel apprehensive about this litter… also a group of five, and about the same age. Just a little bigger.
But it was obvious within seconds that these kittens are in much, much better shape than Les Miz were. They have minor eye crud, but their noses are clean and you can't hear them breathe. Their fur is shiny and they have roundish bellies (though that might be worms, so we dewormed them yesterday.) They purr when we hold and stroke them. And best of all, they don't fight against being fed… at least not yet.
We decided on a World Cup theme for this bunch, so we're calling them the FIFAs. I think that stands for Feline Infant Football Addicts or something. Here's the starting lineup for 50K's World Cup team:
Buff male: "Bafana". Nickname of the South African team. It means "the boys."
Tortie female: "Vuvu". Named after the plastic vuvuzela horn that dominates the World Cup soundtrack.
Calico female: "Zela". Ditto.
Orange/white male: "Beckham". Ask Martha.
Dilute calico female with broken leg: "Pele". Short for Peg-Leg.
I took Pele to a local cat clinic today (the same one treating Bosley at Elephants Upstairs for an examination of her broken leg.
The bad news is that her joint (analogous to her ankle) is crushed, and her leg won't heal normally. The good news is that there's no sign of infection yet, and that she may not have to have it amputated. And even though her vet visit lasted less than two hours, Pele charmed the entire staff.
We also noticed her outgoing and upbeat personality right away; she's not going to let a broken leg stop her. Now if the other Fifas would just stop trying to suckle her (and each other), we wouldn't have to stash Pele in a laundry basket next to the nest. I think we'll be breaking out the Bitter Apple spray to keep the suckle-monkeys at bay.
filed by: TS
