The "I" Litter is here!

The "I" litter kittens came home yesterday. They are about 6 weeks old and are all about 1.5 pounds. Names I am considering include Indigo, Isis, Ink, and Izzy. There are 2 males and a female... I'm open to more name suggestions!

These kittens were left in a box on the doorstep of the shelter a two nights ago. Poor babies! They seemed OK yesterday at the shelter until just before I was going to leave with them when the little girl started vomitting and at least one of them had diarrhea. I considered not taking them, but figured they had a better chance last night if I took them. So I took them home and worried endlessly... The female and one of the males were so listless. The other kitten seemed great though, and ate on his own. The female continued to vomit a few more times and was very withdrawn. I was having flashbacks to my very first set of kittens and was so worried that she wasn't going to make it through the night.

An hour or so before bed I decided to mix up some kitten milk replacer formula and more or less force feed the two weaker kittens using a syringe. Even though they are plenty old enough to be eating solid food, if they were just taken from them mother (who knows, since nobody bothered to officially surrender them and fill out a form) they may not have been ready for food. The vomit from the female was all undigested kibble... like she maybe gourged herself and made herself sick. With some effort, I got both kittens to eat a few cc's of formula and observed them for the next hour. They both kept it down and actually seemed a little perkier. Perhaps they were just low blood sugar or something? I gave them both more formula and crossed my fingers that they would make it through the night.

And they did, and seem sooooo much better today! The female is now eating on her own, not vomitting, and they are all starting to play. One of the males is not eating on his own, but I'm not sure if it is the same one from yesterday or not! I clipped the nails on the one I thought was eating yesterday, but not that one is not eating! So I don't know if I clipped the wrong one, or if they are taking turns. In anycase, the all seem much better today so hopefully we are through the critical hours!