Dexter is almost one!

I can't believe that in a couple months Dexter will be one year old. Time sure does fly! I still remember picking up a little pathetic looking animal from my mom's farm and holding it in my hand. It was a tiny kitten just barely a week old. I didn't know if the kitten would survive and what I was getting myself into. But our love for this kitten grew and he was named "Dexter" and became a part of the family (and Mia's, our maltese, best friend).I always swore that I would never own a cat. They are affectionate at times, but they have no boundaries (always jumping and walking on everything) and they can really demand a lot of attention. But perhaps it's because he's still somewhat of a kitten. But nevertheless, here Mr. Dexter is - all big and grown up. Hard to imagine he used to weigh 3 oz...

Dexter is growing up!

Many of you know that I rescued a little kitty from a compost pile last August at a friend's farm. He was less than 2 weeks old and teeny tiny. Well... 5 months later he has grown into quite a cat! If you know me, you know that I don't like cats. I'm not a cat person and I don't think I ever will be. But somehow little Dexter made his way into my heart. So we permanently made him a member of our household and we haven't looked back.
He's become Mia's best friend. They sleep together in Mia's bed and they romp around the house playing with each other. Maddie will occasionally get in on the play but mainly her only interaction with the cat is if they are both lying next to me and then she'll let him groom her (Maddie never turns down a belly or back rub, no matter the species performing it!)
I just thought I would update you on our little man who is turning into quite a big man. He's about the size of Mia now...

I know I treat my cat like a dog...

So this morning I was taking a shower and had a little visitor - Dexter. He has been interested in the shower since he was born - jumping in it from the moment he was able to jump. But this morning I was surprised to find him in the shower while it was on. Since I was done with my shower and about to get out I decided to give him a bath. I give him a bath weekly in the bathroom sink but since he was so interested in the shower I thought it might be quicker and easier (yup, it was). I know people are probably thinking "You bathe your cat weekly? Cats hate water". I hear this from a lot of people who hear what we do with Dexter. I even give him a good blow dry when we bathe him - it dries him off and prevents really any extra shedding. He is also so fluffy and smells delicious!
But the funniest part about all of this is the explanation of the coat he is wearing in the picture above. After I blow dried him he was still shaking from the cold (we haven't turned our heat on yet and it's a cool 63 degrees in our house). Since I've been sorting through the dog coats for the blog I thought I would try on one of Mia's coats from when she was a little puppy. It fit him like a glove. Sure, he was a little weirded out by the coat. But after he rolled around a couple times and acting like a limp, dead kitten, he sprang back to life and is nice and toasty. I promise - I won't make a habit out of this strange behavior of putting a coat on a cat - but when it's necessary, I'll do anything for my animals :-)
All in all, Dexter is doing wonderful. He's become a great part of our families. He's certainly won over a dog lover. I've never had a cat and certainly don't know how to treat a cat like a cat - but whatever I'm doing must be working because he's a friendly, sweet cat.
I've gotten some looks when I mention that our kitten is "crate trained" (he sleeps in his crate and is put in his crate when we need him out of the way and he likes it). We also get stares when I mention that we bathe and blow dry him weekly with the dogs. Heck, he even plays with the dogs like he is a dog.
Dexter has never known another cat. His mom left him when he was a little over a week old. So he grew up and learned from our dogs. It's interesting to see the dog-like characteristics he has learned and the cat characteristics that are just engraved into his brain (litter box use and when he goes on the prowl).
So I'll admit, I treat my cat like a dog. But who cares - he's sure one cute, loveable dog-cat!

Dexter at 8 wks old

Gosh our little man has grown! This week I'm finally calling him a real kitten. He's getting in all sorts of trouble - jumping on tables, playing with anything that hangs (including yarn and electrical cords), running around the house like a crazy cat, and eating up a storm!
I think I can finally stop the week by week description of him because he's finally just in the growing stage. I can't believe how much a cat can change in a month. But he's turned into a great kitten and I believe we're going to keep him...But having a kitten can be a HUGE hassle sometimes while owning a food-crazed Maltese. Mia has always been very food driven. For a 6 lb dog she sure likes to eat... anything! If it's edible (and sometimes that criteria doesn't even need to be met) she'll eat it - including lettuce, uncooked pasta, skittles, grass, earplugs (one of her favorites), and (drum roll please)... cat food! Yeppers, I got home last week and found the 6 lb bag of kitten food ripped open and about 3 lbs of it missing. Mia instantly had a "I'm guilty but I hope you don't notice me" look on her face. She put her head down and crawled to her bed. At the time I thought it was guilt and shame. Now I know it was probably the churning and upset that was happening in her little stomach.
Mia was sick for a week. Not just "sick" but "SICK". I was irritated with the vomiting and diarrhea for about an hour. Then I just felt so bad for the little miserable ball of fluff. She didn't move from her bed for a week. And it took a good week for her stomach to come back to normal. It was tortuous for her and for us (thanks to the getting up to let her out every 3 hours at night). But we survived and luckily she did too.
But did she learn? Heck no! I think she would eat another 3 lbs without even thinking about it. So since we're keeping the cat we have to come up with a way to feed the little man and keep his food out of Mia's little paws. Currently we feed him on the 2nd story of his kitty condo and that seems to work. But you never know...

Dexter at 7 wks

Sam was lucky enough to catch this incredible picture with his iPhone one night while we were watching television. Maddie was snuggled up next to Dexter on the couch with her paw wrapped over him. So he's definitely found Maddie's soft spot.

Dexter was 7 weeks this past week. He weighs in at shy of 2 lbs. He's really just growing into a real looking cat. His legs have lengthened, his body has slimmed down and developed muscle and his snout has grown. His whiskers are also extremely long now! And man can he jump and run!!

It's been an amazing journey to see this kitten grow up. I still can't believe that we got him from a compost pile in 90 degree heat and saved his little life. I've never really been a fan of cats. I can't stand shedding and hair (that's why we have a poodle and maltese) so a cat wasn't on my list of things to own. They've also always kind of scared me. I worked at a vet and cats always seemed so unpredictable and crazy. They don't respond to commands, they don't snuggle up to you and look to you for love the way a dog does. There are a lot of things that I didn't understand in cat owners. But after having Dexter for the last 6 weeks I'm starting to understand. Dexter has this way of stealing your heart. He doesn't ask to be fed like the dogs (puppy dog eyes and sometimes begging) but demands to be fed (mewing like he has to be fed now!) When he snuggles up on our laps he demands to be pet the right way, held the right way, and not be moved until he's ready. If you don't listen to these needs again he lets out an unhappy mew and walks away. It's almost like you have to earn his love - the opposite of my dogs. It's an interesting relationship that I'm falling for.

We took care of this kitten expecting it to be a short term relationship. We expected to get him to 10 weeks old and probably find him a home with my husband's parents or someone else we know. But as time passes we are having a harder time with this, especially seeing the relationship the dogs have developed with this cat. Maddie loves to sleep with him and Mia just loves to play with him. So we're taking it week by week to see where this kitten ends up. I have a feeling that he will have a place in our home forever.

Dexter at 6 wks old

I'm trying to remember to update everyone on my little man Dexter on a weekly basis as he grows and turns into a little kitty. This has been quite a busy week for Dexter and he has changed a ton! First off, he learned to go up and down our hardwood stairs when he was about 5 wks 5 days old. I was lying in bed on Saturday morning and all of a sudden had a kitten in my face. I knew Sam had brought him down to the basement to eat and use his litter box and left him there. But all of a sudden he was upstairs and somehow managed to climb up our really tall bed (so tall that the dogs use stairs halfway and jump up the rest of the way). I think he used his claws to climb up the mattress. So now he has free range of our entire house meaning I have no way to get away from him!
The second (and most important) change this week has been his ability to eat solid food and get weaned off the bottle entirely. This happened in a very strange way. I had been trying for a week to get him to eat wet kitten food and he was just not interested. Well, apparently he is willing to give up the bottle for french fries since his first attempt at eating solid food was snatching a french fry from my plate. I gave him the fry and he's been eating kitten food mixed with KMR (kitten milk) ever since. Thank you McDonalds!
Basically Dexter has entered the crazy stage of kittenhood. He's running around, learning to jump, climb, and "hunt" basically everything - feet, ankles, dogs (Run! Maddie and Mia, run!)...
But he's a happy and healthy kitten. That's all we could ask for.

Dexter at 5 wks old

These pictures could give you a wrong impression of this kitten - a sleepy, cuddly kitten - the type we had just a week ago. But you would be very wrong... this kitten has finally found his legs and his energy! Luckily we have the dogs to keep him entertained (and sleep next to him as you see Maddie underneath him)!

My Birthday

Today my parents threw a little birthday celebration for me at their house. It was a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon - my brother was even in town from Chicago. We had a wonderful brunch and cake for dessert (yummy Hummingbird Cake from Zingerman's). It was a delicious meal and I was stuffed!!
After the wonderful meal we (my parents, husband, grandparents, brother, and aunt) played a hand of cards called "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" (known as "Oh Hell" to others). I didn't win - couldn't they have let the birthday girl win??
I also got to open presents and my husband surprised me with a new lens for my camera - the "Nikon 35 mm f/1.8 AF-S Dx." It's great for low light situations so I don't need to use a flash so often which is fabulous.
A gift that you crafters would be interested in is a BAG FULL of yarn from my Grandparents. They gave me 4 skeins of wool yarn in 3 different, coordinating colors for a total of almost 2000 yards of yarn! I'm thinking I might made a felted carpet bag from the yarn. Any other suggestions?
We brought our animals over to my parents house, including little "Dexter" hoping that the added interaction with people would help him learn social skills. He had a blast running around with Mia and snuggling with every family member. He's still bottle feeding and has absolutely no interest in trying to eat anything other than something coming out of a little latex nipple. But I'm sure he won't eat out of a bottle forever so I guess I just need a little patience....So today was a nice Sunday afternoon. A day filled with great food, presents, my brother I never see, and the love of my family. Now it's time for the week to begin...

Dexter at almost 4 wks old

I can't believe that it's been 2 weeks since we got Dexter! He was such a tiny, helpless kitty when I brought him home. But since we got him he's really developed into such a sweet and healthy kitten - full of life and energy!

Since Dexter is 4 weeks old we're starting to think about how we're going to wean him from the bottle feedings. I still feed him KMR (kitten milk replacement) every four hours or so (when he's hungry) with the bottle. Hopefully he'll be interesting in starting to lap up the formula sometime this week. He's starting to lick his paws and clean himself. We also introduced him to the litter box which we filled with "Yesterday's News" since it's dust free and won't get stuck in his paws and he can't eat it. The first time we sat him down on the litter he peed on his own! Man, that instinct must just be burned into them. But he doesn't do it all the time but he's on his way.

Dexter is also starting to really play like a kitten. He and Mia play all the time! Luckily Mia plays really gentle with him and Dexter is getting really good at walking so he can scurry under the couch if he's had enough.

I am really enjoying watching this kitten grow up. It's quite an experience.

Dexter at 3 wks old

The changes that this little kitten make day by day are amazing! I've had Dexter for 10 days now and he's now a 3 week old kitten. What do 3 week old kittens do exactly? For starters, they now have their eyes wide open and can follow you. He can see my dogs when they are a couple feet away and he gets up on his little legs and will run (if that's what you call it) after them. He's not so wobbly on his legs anymore although he still falls over if he moves too fast.
Dexter is still drinking from a little bottle that I fill with kitten milk replacement. He drinks a whole 2 tablespoons at a time (compared with about 1/2 tablespoon when we got him). He sucks it down quickly too! He's growing every day. Today he weighs exactly 12 oz - up from 6 oz when we got him 10 days ago. His ears are totally erect now which makes him look so much more like a kitten than his baby ferret face that I said he looked like last week.He still needs help going to the bathroom but hopefully will start being able to go on his own next week so we can introduce him to the litter box. I also hope to start introducing him to wet kitten food by next week so we can start the weaning process. He just started to lick himself so he finally understands how is tongue works which is vital for the weaning process.All in all, he's a great little kitty! We're going to have a hard time giving him up since he's become best buds with our dogs and has wrapped my husband around his little paw! Take a look... isn't he cute!

Goodbye, August

This month seemed to come and go at the blink of an eye! I guess summer is a busy time for all - but I feel guilty for my lack of updates lately.My first update is about a new (*temporary*) part of our family - a little kitten named "Dexter". In this picture he's a little over 2 weeks old. Just started to really open his eyes and his ears finally popped up. We got him when he was just barely 2 weeks old (from the way he looked). My mother's friend lives on a farm where a feral cat abandoned the little kitty in the compost pile. She didn't come back for the kitten for days and finally my mother's friend (and daughter who was visiting) called me. When I got the kitten he was dehydrated and very skinny but with some kitten replacement milk, a tiny bottle, and a heating pad - we got this kitten up and moving! I weighed little "Dexter" when we got him and he was about 6 oz. and today he's a whopping 9 oz! His appetite has really picked up and he's gotten accustomed to the latex nipple which was hard for him at first. But man are these kittens a lot of work this early on! We have to feed him, make him go the bathroom (kittens are unable to do this on their own until about 4 wks old), and keep him warm (again, kittens this young don't shiver or produce their own body heat efficiently). But he's enjoying our family and especially our dogs. I'll keep you updated as he grows and gets ready for a new home!