Fearless Lily

Around Thistle Cove Farm, it pays to have a brave heart. Lily, you may remember, was a barn kitten, saved from being a warm meal of the two barn owls. She’s been in the house for almost three weeks…hard to believe!…and spent the first week being fed with an eyedropper. Every couple of hours, I’d mix kitten milk with water and feed Lily, then, I’d stick her down my shirt or nightgown, so she could have a little nap. At night, I still heat a rice filled bag and slip it under her cushion so she sleeps warmly.

I don’t leave Lily alone with the dogs as the dogs aren’t to be trusted…yet. Lily needs to be a bit larger before the dogs will accept her and not hurt her. Even so, I don’t think there’s anything braver than a kitten. Lily is about seven or eight inches, stretched from back paws to front paws, and will jump half again her height to grab hold of the sheet covering the sofa. Then, she’ll drag herself up, up, up until she’s on the sofa so she can be-devil the dogs.

Lily is now being fed with a kitten baby bottle and sucks like a Dyson. Sophie would cheerfully and with great gusto kill Lily so those two, especially, aren’t being left alone.
Each morning, Lily is retrieved from “her” dog crate and taken to the sun room so she can drink from her first bottle. Then, she’s placed on the floor where she romps with Tippy for an hour or two, fed again then placed back in the dog crate for a nap.
Lily has progressed to the point where she’s grooming herself but sometimes still needs a little help going to the bathroom. When a kitten leaves her mother while the kitten is very young, the kitten needs to be fed, then flipped on her back and her face and tummy stroked with a warm, wet washcloth. This mimics the mother cleaning, licking and grooming her baby to produce urine and feces. So, it’s a really good thing Lily has begun grooming herself…a positive step forward!
At first, I thought Lily was about 5 weeks old but now I think she was between 3 and 4 weeks. Her eyes were blue, as are most newly born kittens, but look like they are going to stay blue! Now, she looks about 6 or 7 weeks, is gaining weight and due to be de-wormed tomorrow. She has begun to eat canned cat food…ugh…and as soon as she’s able, she’ll eat kitten kibble. For more information on kitten development, visit here. Yes, Lily was taken from her mother at an early age but her mother was elsewhere. She was probably eating her own breakfast, getting a drink of water or even hunting. At any rate, Lily has a chance at life now; at the barn, she was nothing more than a meal waiting to be eaten. Lily is happy; so should you be for Lily.

Originally posted on Thistle Cove Farm.