Foster Kitten Friday - On This Date

November 19.

On this date three years ago I was in the Florida Keys. We started our day in Key Largo and had a day of discovery as we made our way to our special lodging on the beach in Islamorada, Florida. It was an amazing day, but when we stopped for lunch and saw this sign after we finished eating, we were a little worried. But everything worked out just fine.

On this date two years ago I was undergoing a pirate drill on a cruise ship off the coast of Saudi Arabia. We were cruising from Rome to Singapore via the Suez Canal. The voyage took us through high-risk areas around the Horn of Africa between the countries of Somalia and Yemen. And even more high-risk areas waters off the coast of Abu Dhabi and Dubai where the Strait of Hormuz meets the Persian Gulf. Sounds scary - and could have been - but we made it through pirate-infested waters just fine. 

Ever see a sunrise off the coast of Saudi Arabia? You have now.
Photo taken exactly two years ago today.

On this date last year I was preparing a blog post about the Wild West. The Wild West kitties, that is. Mama Kate and her four little babes, Annie Oakley, Wild Bill, Calamity Jane - and little Wyatt Earp, the kitten born with no back feet. Here's Wyatt's video from that week, and as you can see, he learned to adapt to the world just fine.

Watch all the episodes of The Adventures of Wyatt Earp, the Foster Kitten with no back feet, here.

Now on this date. As in today.

Hip, hip, hooray! We're back with kitties again. Or at least I thought we were.

These tiny underweight bottle baby kittens arrived in my home this week in desperate need of some loving attention, warm milk in their bellies, and antibiotics in their eyes. They all looked the same, were teeny tiny, and had icky eyes. Was I up to the challenge of another round of Foster Kitten Fridays? Bring it on!

But everything did NOT work out just fine.

They were sick and getting sicker by the minute. One little guy, despite me providing all the loving, warmth, baby kitty formula, and glucose (to keep his blood sugar up), didn't make it through the day. Then on the same night, a second one started to slip. I spent the entire night with the little guy trying to keep him alive. I was sure he wouldn't make it through, but morning came and by some miracle he was still with us. He and his brother headed off to Simply Cats first thing for some fluids, meds, and whatever else was needed to keep them with us. They both responded well to treatment, but then I received the text. 

He didn't make it after all. Another one lost.

His name was Hercules, and Simply Cats
gave me this in remembrance of him.
And yes, that's his paw print.

Which now leads us to today. After extraordinary efforts by the staff at Simply Cats (and the foster coordinator Jordan who took the third one home overnight to tube feed him and keep a close eye on him), I have one single foster kitty in my home.

He made it through.

He's back eating from a bottle.

He's active.

And he's a cutie. 

Crossing fingers and toes that everything will work out just fine for this little fella.