As our sweeties grew, we were presented with a problem…We had decided to go on holiday that year, for the very first time, and we were to visit my grandparents in Spain. But, now I had brought home these little fluff balls, which needed not only feeding but medicating as well, we were in trouble.

Luckily, living not too far from us, we had two very understanding friends. A couple who had agreed already to take care of our three adult cats, and who had two cats of their own (which I helped pick ;)). They were up to the challenge of nurturing and medicating these gremlins for about a week.
Before I left, I told them:” Do not fall in love with them, we will come and claim them within a week.”

When it was time to leave them at their place, I had some severe separation-anxiety issues to work through. I finally managed to tear myself away from the three helpless fuzz balls I had been entrusted with three weeks ago and went home. Feeling immensely guilty, I left for Spain.

It took me two days to stop worrying about them and feeling guilty for abandoning them, but I finally managed to enjoy my much needed and deserved holiday. I occasionally got a message telling me they were fine.

When we got back I picked them up as soon as possible, only to find my friends facing the same problem I had had before leaving: they did not want to part from those fuzzy little creatures. Eventually I was able to pry them out of their arms, which was accompanied with a lot of sobbing and ‘last cuddles’. We were home again and I was once again charged and up to the task.

The next day, I talked to my friends, only to hear that they missed them tremendously and that if they didn’t have already two cats they would adopt them immediately. It didn’t take long for them to decide to at least keep the shorthaired grey male kitten, followed by a lot of thinking and pondering on whether or not their apartment could hold four kittens, before caving and also deciding on the second longhaired grey male kitten. And just like that, I was down two kittens, to only be left with the female black and white longhaired one.
One of my other friends had just recently moved and loved black cats, and she was open-minded enough not to care about its eye. That’s right, at that time we weren’t sure yet what would happen, and if she would not be partially blind. The kitten was therefore promised to my other friend. It was a relief to know I would be able to see them grow up and they would have good homes. It was agreed that I would get them vaccinated, and that the new owners would pay the bill (I get a discount at my clinic). The grey kittens moved to the couples place, but the black kitten stayed with me, since my other friend was moving at the time and that would be unnecessarily stressful for the kitten.

My friends decided to name the kittens Merry(long hair) and Pippin(short hair). I consequently baptized the black kitten temporarily Arwen, just to stay with the theme. It didn’t take long though, after I named her, to grow attached to her. I had raised her from 5 weeks onwards, and the constant visits to the clinic and the fact that her brothers weren’t there, had created a special bond. I was mommy to her, and she trusted me implicitly.
When I asked my boyfriend for his permission to keep her, he sighed but said he had seen it coming and was ok with it. He, too, had grown fond of her. The only obstacle was that I had already promised her to someone else. It took me several weeks to muster the courage but I asked her if she would mind, and she totally understood. After all, she hadn’t seen the kitten yet anyways, and I did manage to find a solution to her subsequent ‘loneliness’ (more on that later).

Meanwhile, Pippin wasn’t doing so well, he didn’t eat as well and he didn’t grow the way his brother and sister did. I brought some food supplements as well as some medication. He had grown weaker since he did not eat that well, and the virus had taken advantage of the situation. He had relapsed (this disease is caused by amongst others Herpes, something you can treat but not cure, so it reappears when your immune system isn’t that strong). His brother and sister got their first shots, but it was decided he was not strong enough for the injection. He was to be medicated two weeks and return then for his shots. He was, as always, our worry-child. And he had started displaying some bizarre behavior. He was drinking and eating his own urine and feces. Apparently, his body was so weakened, that he wasn’t absorbing the necessary nutritive elements from the food he did eat, which caused him to try and digest the food a second time, in an attempt to process the vitamins and such his body urgently needed. Don’t worry, we got him back on his feet, and although he did take some time to get back to the same weight as his siblings, he soon started to catch up.

The vaccinations caused Arwen and Pippin to become sick again, while Merry proved strong enough to fight of the virus. Their new owners and myself knew that this is to be expected. This virus will occasionally resurface when the cats are experiencing stress, or another illness. But at least, now that they are vaccinated, they will have more resilience against the disease.

I eventually finished the vaccinations of all the three kittens, and signed off as surrogate mother, to hand over authority and care to my friends. They are doing wonderfully, as we speak, and enjoy their new home and friends. Although still infected with the virus, they are as healthy as possible and are enjoying life as any kitten should be able to.

And Arwen? Well she stayed with me, and is my special little baby. I recently had her undergo surgery to free up the eye, which worked for about 90%. She sees a lot better, and is not hindered by the eye at all. I had to medicate her for two weeks to prevent the tissue from growing shut again, but it paid of. She still has some residual tissue on the eye, which did grow back, but at least now you can see a beautiful green eye peeking through.

Right now, because of the strain of her surgery, and because I have an annoying bug in the house (probably Guardia, which infects young kittens by giving them diarrhea; nothing serious but you must treat it to prevent the kitten from dehydrating, they overcome the bug as they mature since their immune system is stronger then), she has had some symptoms again. If I just give her some live yoghurt and the powder that suppresses the virus long enough, she should be just fine ;)

Lucky for Arwen, she hasn’t had the chance to miss her brothers. You see, my adult cats aren’t that much into playing anymore, so I was worried she would miss out on playtime with her brothers. However, that problem was quickly dealt with. The reason for that? I will tell you next time ;)