Gaining Ground

Arista has started gaining weight again! This is making me very happy. She spent a few days at the shelter being force fed to keep her from losing even more weight. It was decided that she did not like the "good" food that the shelter provides and so she just stopped eating. Normally, a kitten would eventually eat any food if they got hungry enough, but she was little to begin with and so when she lost so much weight, she lost interest in eating even when she had the food she liked.

She came home to us here on Sunday and I continued to force feed her with a syringe. And let me tell you, pureed cat food smells nasty. It also gets all over you and the kitten when you try to hold the kitten down and squirt the food into its mouth.

Thankfully, after a long week of doing this two times a day, Arista decided to give us both a break and just eat the Friskies that I got for her. Of course, now her sister doesn't want the "good" food either so I have been feeding them both Friskies. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Friskies, it is just not what the shelter uses and so it makes feeding time harder for them when not all of their animals are eating some version of Science Diet.

Both Arista and Lulu were surrendered at close to 8 weeks old. Their owner kept two kittens from their litter and surrendered four to the shelter. Arista and Lulu were too small to be adopted right out like their litter mates. They most likely were eating Friskies at their owner's home and for some reason, Arista could not adjust to the change. I am optimistic that she will continue to get bigger now that we know the issue.

So the moral of this story for pet owners is - if you have to surrender an animal to a shelter or rescue group, give them all the information you can. Something as small as a food flavor preference can become a big issue once they get to the shelter.

And the moral for foster parents is - if you are going to have to force feed a kitten pureed cat food, just be thankful that your new washer and drier were delivered last Friday - cause you are going to need it.