My first bottle babies

I love helping orphaned kittens. My first set of orphaned kittens came to me a couple of years ago and they were all of 1 DAY OLD! Everyone that I spoke with to get advice told me not to be upset if I "lost" any of them. That trying to pull babies that young through was very difficult. I got my own formula for them-because the store bought stuff is based on cow's milk which a cat cannot digest-so I had to find my own. Then I started.
The first night was very trying. The three little babies just cried and cried and cried. No matter how much I fed them or how much I stimulated them to go potty. Then, upon doing more research, I found out that these little angels cannot shiver for the first 2-3 weeks of their life. So, I got a heating pad and they were happy as could be. THEY WERE COLD!
I got up with them every two hours so they could eat. I had to bathe them and then blow dry them (again, very important not to let them get cold), but I had to be very careful there too, because you don't want to burn them with the hot heat of the blow dryer.
They were all doing very well, and when they were about a week and a half old their eyes opened! It was so wonderful to know that they could see me for the first time.
There were two orange tabby males and one gray tabby female. For those that know the cartoon Garfield, you will understand where I got the names from. Garfield and Odie for the two orange males, and Nermal for the gray female. (In the cartoon, Nermal was Garfield's gray tabby cousin.) They were just the sweetest little angels I had ever seen in my life.
A few more weeks passed and it came time to start weaning them. Garfield and Odie did exceptionally well, but little Nermal was not in the least interested in the canned food I offered her. She kept drinking her milk while her brothers ate their canned food, drank a little milk, and learned how to drink water. The boys were growing wonderfully, but poor little Nermal stayed just that, little Nermal. She wasn't getting much sustenance, and therefore not gaining weight. Her brothers started to play a little rougher, as kittens do, and it scarred me for Nermal because she was so much smaller. I pulled her away from her brothers into her own room so they couldn't be rough with her and she stopped eating. She started to get weak and I was so scarred she was going to die. I made numerous phone calls asking for advice, but everyone told me it sounded like she was about to die and to prepare myself. NO! I couldn't let my little Nermal die, I just had to figure out what was the matter. The only thing I had done different was take her from her brothers, so I thought maybe I should put her back. RELIEF!! She started eating again...SHE WAS LONELY!!!
Now, at three months of age, Garfield and Odie are about 2.5 Lbs, and little Nermal, still not eating solid foods, is only 11 oz.!! Again, very concerned for her welfare, to be that old and weigh what a 3 week old kitten should weigh scarred me. Then, a very dear friend of mine told me to try this hard food that has very tiny kibble. I went and got a bag, offered her some, and it was like a miracle, Nermal started to gobble it like it was the best food in the world. Then she started growing by leaps and bounds. Through all of this, she had an adoptive home waiting on her and rallying for her. They finally were able to take their little angel home. One of their friends took Garfield and I kept Odie. They are all now 2 years old and Nermal is bigger than both of her brothers.
And to this day, she will not touch canned food.

My love of animals

I love animals with everything I am worth. All animals are angels. They are on this planet to love unconditionally and they are always happy to see you. I think there are far too many people that do not put enough "stock" in animals. I once read a story of how a young boy, about 6 years old, had a dog that had been in his life since he was born. The dog was about 15 years old and just at the end of his life. The parents set up with the vet to come to their home to put the beloved pet to sleep. After the dog had passed, the vet and the parents are talking about death and why animals have so much shorter a life-span than humans. The young boy pipes up with "I know the answer to that question." All the adults very interested in what the boy had to say, they asked him to proceed. "Humans have to live so many years to learn how to be happy and how to love unconditionally. Animals already do that and therefore do not have to spend a life-time figuring it out. They give love and happiness from the moment they are born to the moment they die, which is possibly longer than most humans." What a divine statement from such a young child!!
I think we can all learn so much from animals. We claim to be the superior species because of all of our technology. But, think of this...All of our technology is what is destroying the very planet on which we have to survive!! The animals, in my point of view, are far more superior than humans. They do not destroy the planet they live on, they simply live off of it. They also do not rape, murder, and steal as humans do. They do battle yes, but it is the survival of the fittest and not lets kill everyone.
For those who think, which I have heard many times working in animal rescue, that "God" created animals simply as disposable items for our pleasure...think of this. If that was in fact the case, then WHY WAS NOAH SO DILIGENT TO GET TWO OF EVERY SPECIES ONTO HIS ARCH?! Because they are not disposable and are just as important as humans. They do have feelings and souls. I have looked into the eyes of countless animals and no one in the world can ever convince me otherwise.