Cat 5

We're back up to 5 cats in the house again after picking up the fosters from the vet on our way home from work last night.  They confirmed that the little guy is in pretty rough shape, but not necessarily a write-off.  He was dehydrated and starving (not retaining food or moisture).  They gave us some special food to bung him up, and some extra rich food to fatten him up after.  We're concerned about his food intake, so we're going to force-feed him for the first while to make sure he gets adequate nutrition.

If you've ever tried to feed a reluctant baby, double that then add sharp claws and teeth to the equation.  I accidentally got my finger in his mouth while I was wiping his chin, and he chomped down hard enough to draw blood.  And it hurt.  I can't believe I was PWND by a kitten!  We fed him about 1 2/3 syringes of food mixed with water last night (we ended up wearing the other 1/3).  This morning he greeted us with a simple peep instead of the usual barrage of raucous mewling, so maybe he's feeling a bit better.  atara forced another syringe of food down his throat, and then let him loose -- and he promptly ate some more on his own.  That's a good sign - though he was eating earlier too, but it was blowing right through him.

We'll force a bit more into him when we get home today, and some more before bed.  When he can struggle enough to make force-feeding nigh impossible then I'll assume that he's getting well enough to not need it any more.

I'm not sure if I posted a good picture of the little guy, so I'll steal some of atara's bandwidth.
( Here's your cue to say 'awwww' )