Yoda plays Frozen Bubbles

He was playing very well for about 5 minutes pawing the heck out of my phone screen...

Then I decided to film him and that all went down hill, naturally...

Oh well, here is another cute Yoda video.

Otherwise, not much eventful - he's eating a lot and getting along with Bistro better than he was, and zooms around the house all day. However, one must keep an eye on him as his paws get caught in the carpet and he'll sit there and wail until you detach him.

All day, no can has get any work done...

Yoda does this all day. He's even louder and more pitiful than I am able to capture, but you get the jist of it.

It's not that I am abusing him, I promise. The temperature is a nice 77*F, and he was just running around the house like a maniac for quite some time. He has food, water, play toys, and cuddle things...

He just wants to be held, ALL THE TIME. However, I need to get some work done, so I am being a 'bad momma' and putting on my headset and ignoring him for awhile. He'll eventually go to sleep from being tired of crying, like all kids. I hope.

Tubby Tummy Yoda

Honestly, this cat eats so much I am amazed at how small he is. He'll eat between 1.5-3oz of wet kitten food per day, as well as (a slightly overdosed) 1tsp of Nutri-Cal for Kittens which he really likes. I've given up on KMR, he just hates it and is so miserable when I try to feed him it, on its own or mixed with other things.

I am still trying to supplement him with syringed in water, which he takes begrudgingly... his poo and pee seems to be fairly regular still, and he doesn't appear to be dehydrated. Gums are a healthy pink. 

He looks frail, feels frail - there isn't much there but bones and thin hair... But he is so active, happy, and loving... I have nothing to think but that he is doing well. He loves to run around, talks a lot, and just wants to be cuddled. I think the only potential problem is that he does get cold, so he prefers to sleep on/with me, which is... quite inconvenient.

Despite his small stature, I think he is doing pretty well overall. Only time can tell, and I plan on weighing him again this next Sunday to see if he is any heavier - I can't imagine he wouldn't be. 

Probably my only concern at this point is that he does seem to be pidgeon toed a bit, his 'ankles' sort of rub together often, and he has a pretty silly gait, but seeing as he is so small and was malnourished I am going to give it a little longer. His eyes do look a lot better than original too, and although he is still balding on the top, he is pretty fuzzy elsewhere - I suspect new growth as it is thicker at the base.

All of his other pictures he was too wiggly, but this was him curled up in a pre-fold diaper (which are my favorite for little kittens due to absorbancy and semi-stiffness in the middle, yet breathability) stuffed between me and my shirt this morning. He whined til I put him there.

Til later, Yoda.

A long day!

This morning after my husband left for work, I crawled back into bed where Yoda's little carrier home is - complete with noms and his litterbox - intending to sleep. 

Not without him, I wasn't... I spent the next 4 hours in a state of semi-sleep as he played with me, then just on me, and eventually crashed as I had long before him. We slept in 6 positions, and eventually I decided I wasn't really sleeping, so this wasn't really worth it. 

I had a long day at 'work' - if you can call it work, it's not so bad usually, but sometimes people can be really single visioned, and while trying to juggle Yoda screaming, eating, pooping, and attempting to get eaten by my two larger cats... Not exactly a fun day.

I did manage to give Yoda some of his nutritional supplement with his food, I am not sure if he liked it, but he does like his normal food at least - his stomach is round and stuffed like a fat beer belly. It is really funny as it makes him run in zig-zags because it's so big. Once he gets another big poo out, I am sure he will be fine.

I spent my husbands birthday half asleep with him in bed, of course with our faithful little Yoda til I got up this evening. It's the first night I've been able to make dinner at home since Yoda arrived. Go me!

Thank goodness prefold diapers and the ability to swaddle him and tuck him into any shirt. He settles in quite peacefully and sleeps, even if you're walking around, cooking, bending over, etc. 

Well, I have plans to try to get a video recorded tomorrow or maybe just a bunch of pictures... We'll see how my recorder cooperates with me. It's storming and with tornadoes in the area, so I doubt we'll be going out much tomorrow.

Hope everyone sleeps better tonight than I did last night!

More Yoda to come tomorrow.

If you don't pick up Yoda's...

They'll meow pitifully and stare at you just like this...

You're probably gonna pick him up. I do. :<

Yoda got new play area

Since I figure someday I am probably going to have a *real kid* and not just kittens, and Yoda -really- needs a bigger place to stay permanently (like when I am trying to work and can't keep an eye on him)...

I just bought him a playpen. I can reuse it someday, and if nothing else as the kids grow older, it's a great toy bin. I'm okay with that.

Meanwhile, Yoda has moved in! I've since added a -few- more things, maybe I'll post a pic of that tomorrow... But this is the basics, and really... He doesn't even need the water. He wont drink it.

I think it's a nice place to keep an idle eye on him, and now his food dish and litterkleenexbox can be not next to eachother immediately.

Otherwise, I called the vet today and was told to not bring him in unless he stops eating, doesn't gain weight, or stops pooping. I was also told that I shouldn't need to supplement him with more than a few ml of water due to the high water content of wet food.

I also picked up a nutritional additive to add to his food which I'll be starting later today once I can read it fully.

PS: The bed is a lie. He does not want to sleep there, he wants to sleep on you/me/anyone. Non-discriminatory. 

Litterbox Successes 2.0

Took a poop AND a pee, unassisted, and all by himself in his litterbox this evening! Still -not- keen on drinking by himself, but he's more than happy to chomp down on wet kitten food. I'll be stopping by Petco again tomorrow to grab him some more. As my mother in law says, he's quickly becoming the "most expensive free kitty" I've ever gotten!

Also had an eventful day and lots of cuddle time with "Uncle Chris" while he visited this evening, meeting lots of new people and giving oodles of smiles to everyone around him. I don't think anyone has met little Yoda and not fallen for his sweet charm and playfulness.

He's taking a nap now, and I am hoping for him to sleep all through the night. We'll see how he 'likes' the storm that is making so much noise, but so far he is just a great all-night sleeper. If he does get up, he never cries. It's really a great relief. 

Hoping to snatch some more cute photos of him tomorrow, maybe a video too? We'll see!

2nd night through

Little Yoda slept a full night through again, from midnight til 9ish! That's a nice long nap, and he did it with no complaints.

Another success story is that right before we all settled in to sleep... He peed in the little litterbox! I'm waiting for his poo this morning as he's a bit overdue, so I'll try a little stimulation in a few, or if he starts whining like he usually does beforehand.

Still, Yoda seems to understand the litterbox, and my other free-roaming cat hasn't killed him yet. She even slept in the same bedroom last night. We feed her a little kitten food to keep her satiated, and let her out a lot. Otherwise, throwing a bit more affection her way also, so that she knows we love her still and bestest.

Yoda has also been playing with a great little ribbon and chewy rubber toy we got from Petco and really loves it, he rolls onto his back and paws in the air for quite some time with it. I think the bright colours are great fun for him.

He's eating quite a bit again this morning, no litterbox yet, but I am about to attempt to give him whatever he'll take of 5ml worth of KMR. Not much, I'll imagine.

The scales are in!

Our tiny Yoda weighs approximately 7.2 ounces... Yep! Just a fraction of what he should weigh in as - an average 7 week old kitten is usually nearing 2 pounds, and yet poor Yoda is less than 1/4 of that!

However, he is eating like a champ - a full 3 ounce can of kitten wet food in the past 24 hours, 2 healthy poos, 3 pees (and i suspect another shortly), and while he isn't keen on kitten milk replacement I did manage to get him to take in a full 2ml and a spoonful of wet kitten food tonight.

I'll be attempting to get him to pee in his litterbox before I sleep, and with a little bit of ribbon play or maybe an introduction to the red dot to tire him out for hopefully another solid few hours of sleep.

Yoda and I wish you a good night!

Sleepy Yoda.

Today we made him a lil litterbox out of an empty tissue box. Fed him, but he hasn't used it yet. It'll be fun to help him poddy train. Meanwhile, he is full and napping.

Playful

Don't mind the fat me face so up close, my nose looks huge - it's really not...

Also my husband in the background! Hi husband!

Yoda is very photogenic, playful, and cuddly.

Even now, he's protesting in his home, wanting me to hold him while he sleeps...

More food.

For being a small as he is, this cat is pigging out!

Two spoonfuls of nomnoms this morning so far, going to refill his dish soon.

Yoda's First Night; Poop

Well, I managed to get him to eat another spoonful or so of wet food - he has a pretty big appetite... And a big poop too!

On my pillow.

Well, after that was taken care of, about 1am, we actually managed to sleep a nice uninterrupted night til about 7am when I was curious why he was so quiet!

He was asleep. It was actually nice. So we woke up, he crawled out and all over us and the bed, and I showed Matt how to feed him.

He -really- doesn't like KMR, so I am going to be focusing more on the solid food as he really does seem keen on it... After all, he is a 7 week old kitten, no matter how he looks.

I'll still be forcing it down him a few times a day, but I am going to be getting him a litterbox and attempting to train him this evening - his first box shall be a kindly donated empty kleenex box! He'd get lost in something the size of Bistro's.

Otherwise, no major updates. He is a talker, and getting plenty of food, passing it healthily, and I feel a lot better about him than when I initially received him.

I'm going to be attempting to call the vet on Tuesday and see if we can get him in, or at least talk to them to see when they'd like to meet him - since he is so special.

Yoda's Comparisons

Some comparison pictures from Yoda and his siblings, you can see the extreme size difference more evidently here.

In other news, I just got him to take his first pee! No poops yet, but he is still mostly liquid, so that's normal.

It was a lot of pee.

He isn't taking food very well still, I am going to get a better feeding implement tomorrow. Still not wanting to eat his wet kitten stuff mixed with KMR yet. 

However... He -is- purring... so I can forgive him for now.

Oh, and he nuzzles.

The Yoda

Today I took in an almost 7 week old kitten named Yoda, while I had no intentions of adopting a kitten, but this was a case of kitty destiny.

Yoda is the runt of a litter of 5, being cared for by two mothers out of a total of 10 kittens who are fairly intermixed. When I say runt, this is no ordinary runt... Yoda is approximately the size of a 2 week old kitten.

I'll be looking into getting a scale in the near future to weigh our foster pet to track his progress, by by fate (or... having the experience and time necessary...) I was picked for the job of taking care of him. Despite having 2 other cats who disagree... Oh, and a lease that says 2 cats only.

Meanwhile, here is the first pictures of Yoda, and Yoda's home where he will remain (for his safety and to keep track of something the size of my hand) the majority of his time. I hope to write more later.