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01
"Meet Pennie!"
via rocketgnome"Pennie came into our lives 3 months ago and it's been a wild ride, but in case it helps anyone else here's her story."
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02
via rocketgnome"She was found in the backyard with her eyes mostly open but ears closed. The vet estimated she was 8 days old. We waited overnight for the mother to return but in the morning it was clear we had a new baby to raise."
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03 via rocketgnome
"Luckily, the other animals were exited to meet her."
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04 via rocketgnome
"Prenatal kittens must be bottle fed with kitten formula every few hours around the clock. They take an incredible amount of care. She was in the vet almost daily to assist with impaction, which may be why she was abandoned. We don't know."
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05 via rocketgnome
"Here she is enjoying post-feeding cuddles. Since she was raised by humans, she loves being held and purrs continuously."
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06 via rocketgnome
"We eagerly awaited weaning since she always scratched our hands frantically while bottle feeding. Here she is resisting canned kitten food."
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07 via rocketgnome
"But it was not all hard work. She loved to explore and interact between naps. At this point she was about 3 weeks old."
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08 via rocketgnome
"At 5 weeks she was stronger and only going to the vet for checkups. We only allowed her to explore the kitchen table for a while to keep her from being disturbed or harmed by other pets."
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09 via rocketgnome
"Here she is learning how to code SQL. She hasn't gotten it down yet, but I'm trying."
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10 via rocketgnome
"Her first bath! It was necessary, don't ask."
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11 via rocketgnome
"6.5 weeks here, still insisting on bottle feeding. The camera angle gives the impression we were feeding her like a human child, on her back, but this can cause the baby to asphyxiate and should be avoided. She refused to eat on her belly so we just lifted her head."
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12 via rocketgnome
"7 weeks and starting to play regularly. She loves to hide and pounce, although the pouncing part had to wait for better motor control in her hind legs…"
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13 via rocketgnome
".. which she practiced by "meerkatting." She still does this regularly."
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14 via rocketgnome
"She loves posing as a 'fraidy cat also."
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15 via rocketgnome
"When not on the table or playing on the bed, we kept her in a play pen filled with her favorite toys. She still preferred to be with us though, and had to be taken to the bathroom regularly."
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16 via rocketgnome
"She quickly learned to stick by the opening to plan escape attempts."
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17 via rocketgnome
"Today, at 3 months old, she's a happy, healthy kitten. She's weaned, up on all of her shots, and now has free reign of the house most hours. But it was a ton of work.
If you find yourself choosing whether or not to take on prenatal kitten care, be warned. They depend on you for everything for the first 6 weeks or so. They even need help going to the bathroom. This website was very helpful to us and told us what to expect.
https://www.alleycat.org/resources/kitten-progression/
If you have the time and patience, though, it can be very rewarding! Pennie came to us while we were preparing to move cross country, which made our lives very complicated. It was NOT easy! However, we've given her the best care we can and she's family now.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures!"
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