The Art of Nurturing
I have been living on my own (aka, not with my parents) for eight months now but my focus on domestication did not get serious until the night of December 1, 2007. Earlier that morning, we adopted an orphaned kitten who was only 3 weeks old. At 3 weeks, a kitten should still be nursing every couple of hours and cannot regulate its temperature, but since there was no mama cat to feed or warm her kitten, I took over.
Every three hours I was heating up a bottle of KMR (kitten milk replacement) and struggling to keep my half-pound kitten interested until he had at least 1 oz. This meant waking up throughout the night and readjusting my schedule to keep him healthy. Our electric bill went up because we kept the apartment warmer than usual, took advantage of a space heater to fight the draft that tears through the doors and windows, and snuggled the kitty up with an electric blanket (set to low and under supervision, of course).
With this experience I learned two things:
1. I can act selflessly in order to nurture another living being.
2. My boyfriend is going to make an excellent father one day:
But that very first night, waking up to check on “the baby” really showed me that motherhood is definitely a possibility. I have learned many lessons since that first night, but for now I leave you with this.
unshrouded said,
January 28, 2008 at 9:47 am
i was glad to read this! i love kitties!
learningleads said,
January 30, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I love this post! Growing up, my mother always came home with the dogs that needed nurturing. We had a pekinese who had been abused (his ribs were showing and his hair was like straw and he flinched when we lifted our hands to pet him, but by the time he left us he was fat, fluffy, and trusting!)
And you’re right–sometimes we find ourselves in telling situations. Good luck with (him? her?) and post more pictures! You could have a kitty page