In Sunday’s entry I said we were essentially on call for fosterlings until the end of the month. The call landed in our inboxes on Monday morning.

Two kittens from Tucker County, WV had been transported by van to the Homeward Trails office in Arlington on Saturday, and due to delays and other stressors they were panting and frazzled by the time they arrrived.

Cheeto and Felix went to a foster home and seemed fine for about 24 hours. But by Sunday they were acting lethargic, had diarrhea, and had stopped eating. We agreed to take them, and an HT manager dropped them off with us around noon on Monday.

As soon as I saw them I realized they were in pretty good shape. No URI symptoms like weepiness, conjunctivitis, or nasal drip. No reports of vomiting. Their butts and legs looked mostly clean and neither kitten was seriously dehydrated, so the diarrhea couldn’t be bad. And both kittens weighed almost two pounds, so they had some meat on their bones and wouldn’t be threatened by a day or two with limited consumption.

Cheeto acted playful but shy at first, trying to engage his “brother” (they don’t look related) but fleeing under the futon when I reached for him.

Felix didn’t try to escape my hands, maybe because his back legs seemed strangely wobbly and uncoordinated. His halting gait reminded me of Gem Fever.

Neither kitten ate at first, but we saw Cheeto start nibbling Sunday night. Felix wasn’t interested, so I syringe-fed him Nutrical and slurry.

By Tuesday morning their canned food dish was licked clean. And as Tuesday progressed, Felix’s improvement was obvious. Each time I visited the villa, I’d pull him out of the nest, flea-comb him on the futon (we took about a dozen live fleas off the two of them combined), wait until he started purring (which he did without fail), then set him on the floor next to his canned food dish and watch him start eating.

Cheeto seemed to slow down on Tuesday and continued to retreat under the futon when he heard me coming. But whenever I crawled under to drag him out, he didn’t resist. And like Felix, he purred as soon as we flea-combed him.

After watching Cheeto vomit into the litter box yesterday, we concluded that he’s probably a day behind Felix in dealing with a minor virus. On Monday night Felix lost weight while Cheeto gained. Last night was the opposite. And Felix’s coordination seems to be returning. So we think these guys will be up to full speed soon.

Since their names are a fait accompli, can anyone suggest a litter-name for these guys? The Cartoons?

filed by: TS