Rising from the Ashes - Raising a Kitten from Day One

Another good and straightforward day.  Phoenix had prime-time in two  video meetings.  He eats like a monster, and he continues to grow! Phoenix continues to gain weight as he should.  He's now at 280g; that's almost 10oz!  He's now well over 4x the weight than we got him at. He has begun walking around more and exploring.  And as he walks around, his tail sticks up!  This is another tiny milestone to celebrate 😺. Phoenix also got to go on camera twice today.  Once at work and again with my family this evening.  Oddly enough, I'm not really one for this kind of screen time.  I'm constantly worried that I'm imposing my kitten on people.  But undoubtedly, for a number of people, Phoenix (and pets in general!) have an ability to bring some joy and smiles to people's lives.  So I'd like to believe that Phoenix brought some positivity to people's lives today. Feeding Frenzy The little guy eats so much!  His formula contains th...

Phoenix continues to grow and grow.  It's amazing how far he's come, but also insane that he's only been in our lives for 3 weeks.  Seems like forever and also no time at all.  Look at the now and then photos below.  How did this happen? All in all, there really isn't much to say today.  Phoenix is still gaining weight and he's still growing.  We feed him roughly every four hours now (it used to be every 1-2 hours), which definitely makes it easier to manage.  This is also the first time I've left him in a separate room away from either of us for a more extended period of time.  With his new pen, moving him while he's sleeping tends to wake him up.  So for now, Phoenix is still in the office room while we hang out in the living room.  Don't worry, we'll still be able to hear him if he makes a noise. He's also becoming more observant with his surroundings.  He has moments where he kind of hangs out and looks around.  This was hi...

 He hit 3 weeks old today!  How exciting!  Will try to keep today's blog post short, since it's been fairly uneventful today! Benefits of Warmth The weather has been warm again recently.  Our area hit 100F today.  Unfortunately, more fires up north have caused the air quality to become poor again.  It's not nearly as bad as it had been when we first found Phoenix, but it's bad enough that we've opted against opening the windows.  We also don't have AC here either.  The house thermostat is reading 87F now, and it's 8:30pm in the evening. So despite Nguyen and I roasting today, we had an added benefit.  Phoenix slept extra well!  He didn't even bother sleeping on top of the heating pad today.  But the little guy was super knocked out and seemingly enjoying life.  Check out the two videos below: Phoenix was pretty active after I moved his pen from the office to the living room area.  He was "running" around and meowing away....

Day 20 and Phoenix is still going strong.  He's been gaining weight like a monster (hit 250g today), and I think the poop storm is starting to slow down.  Eyes are wide open, energy levels are high, and fluffy factor is continually increasing. Upgrades Phoenix got a home upgrade today.  I had purchased a collapsible pen that arrived a few days ago.  This morning, the little guy was complaining even after eating a bunch of food.  So I decided to go ahead and upgrade from a container to this new pen. I regret not getting one size bigger.  I'll need to think about a litter box soon, and it would have fit a lot bigger if I upped the size.  We'll see what happens.  I also haven't figured out what I'll do at night.  He usually sleeps next to me, but maybe it's time to leave him in one spot and keep him out of the bedroom?  I just worry I won't be able to hear him crying if something goes wrong. All in all, I'm generally happy with this new pen...

We were off on an adventure today, and Phoenix did very well!  He slept the entire car ride there (1.5 hours), and slept the majority of the trip back.  He did well at Mom's house, and even got to be held by his aunt.  Aside for one tiny "oops", it was all in all a good day.  He also popped up to 230g at 1:45am (was worried about his weight gain yesterday) and just hit 240g at 10:45pm today.  That update is mostly for you, Auntie, in lieu of me updating the weight chart tonight.   Pre-Travel Visiting my mom and sister who live an hour away usually doesn't get the "travel" title.  It had always been just an hour drive that didn't require much planning.  Hardly sounds like "travel plans" or any kind of "elaborate trip".  It was just visiting family and hanging out. Somehow having this little guy changed that.  I needed to plan ahead and make sure we had everything we needed.  I had karate in the morning from 9am - 10:30am.  ...

Phoenix's eyes continue to open slowly, enough so that you can see a tiny bit of eye behind there.  I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that I sometimes worried he would open his eyes and nothing would be there 😱.  Of course, I know that was an unreasonable fear... but it still helps to see something behind those eyes! Ups and Downs I don't know how to feel about today.  There were some positives and there were some less positives.  His eyes opening are just a huge highlight to my day, and they are opening more and more each time we feed him.  He's also been eating super well and sleeping well.  We've actually started moving to feeding every 3-4 hours now as well.  And the icing on the cake?  We only needed to give him a butt bath once this morning!  While he still has messes, they are smaller in size, and has made it easier to avoid needing full butt baths. On the flip side, there's still blood when he goes to the bathroom.  I'm unimpres...

17 days, 7.65oz, 6 feedings, 2 butt baths, 1 dose Ponazuril, 0 vet visits.  A nice count down to summarize my day.  Phoenix has been doing well.  He continues to have blood come out after going to the bathroom, poor guy.  You can tell he's in pain when it's happening.  Let's hope that some more time with the medication will help improve this.  His poop today already seemed better than before (less accidents), so that's hopefully a good sign. Approaching a Milestone I'm always excited when Phoenix hits some kind of milestone.  It's a way to make me feel more comfortable about his state.  I always worry that maybe something is wrong (especially internally), so seeing this normal progress really helps. I've referenced the kitten lady before - here's a nice page from her site about determining age (but also kind of demonstrates some milestones).  Check it out; http://www.kittenlady.org/age, but I've also included a picture from her site belo...