It's a Girl

Dear John,

 

Meet Maggie. The kitten is a girl - Jen was right. So I decided to name her after Mama.

 

She had her first vet appointment today. They all think Jethro needs to get a paper route to help pay for the kittens he adopts. Maggie weighs 1.1 pound. June says she's the size of a 4-week-old but has the coordination and teeth of a 6-week-old, so she's probably just small because she didn't have enough to eat. She's putting meat on her bones now and has a good appetite. I'm mixing dry food with the soft and she's loving it, and she's drinking well. Another indication that she's older than a month is that she drinks with her nose above water.

 

She checked out fine except for conjunctivitis and a couple of intestinal parasites - not surprising since she's feral. So she's on medicine twice a day for a while. She was negative for feline leukemia, which was a relief since that would be the other explanation for her small size. So we're doing basic stool precautions here - nothing I didn't do for years in hospitals. Of course, there I didn't have patients that liked to eat out of litter boxes like Jethro does. While I'm gone I'm leaving Maggie in the bathroom with dry food, water, her litter box, a bed, and her favorite toy. She's getting more rest and less stress, and the other animals are kept away from her parasites. It's working well for everybody. They'll all get checked when they go in for their regular appointments, and in the meantime I'm on stool patrol. I think Jethro does need that paper route.

 

So go find Mama and tell her about her namesake! I named the little one for her because she loved cats so much, and couldn't have one after I was born because I used to be so allergic to them. Update her on Jethro's three kitties and show her pictures of little Maggie. And give her a big hug for me. Tell her and Daddy that I love and miss them both.

 

Miss you most,

Joan.