Meet Simon and Sassafras

My latest tiny houseguests are two orange tabby boys. They've been in my home since last Thursday. They are probably between 9 and 10 weeks of age.

At first glance, they look nearly identical, but it's easy to tell them apart by their personalities (well, that and the fact one of them is having a nasty bout with the respiratory infection that seems to be some kind of necessary rite of passage for young kittens. More on that later). Both of the kittens were a bit shy at first, but that wore off in all of about five minutes for Simon. He is very outgoing and affectionate. He's full of energy, and a constant purrball. Sassafras not so much, although it's hard to tell at this point how much of that is due to his personality and how much is due to his being ill. Oddly, he started warming up to me when I trimmed his toenails--after that, he immediately stopped running from me when I'd try to pick him up, and seems to enjoy being held and petted, although he hasn't purred one time that I've heard. So that's two firsts for me. I've never had a kitten start trusting me because I trimmed his toenails, and I've never had one that refuses to purr either.

But it isn't a refusal to purr that has me worried tonight. It's a refusal to eat, most likely due to the respiratory infection blocking his sense of smell. Both of the kittens were sneezing a little when I brought them home, and over the weekend, it became obvious that it wasn't just allergies. The shelter gave me an antibiotic for them on Monday, and Simon is almost completely well now. Sassafras, however, did not respond to the antibiotic, and has stopped eating altogether since at least yesterday. He's lost seven ounces of weight, about 20% of the 34 ounces he weighed when I brought them home. Last night I separated them to confirm what I already suspected--Sassafras isn't touching his food beyond sniffing at it, although he is drinking plenty of water at least. I took him back to the shelter today for further treatment and advice. They gave me a stronger antibiotic for him, as well as a kind of nutrition paste. He seemed to respond well to it at the shelter (I get my first try at giving it to him tomorrow). I also syringe-fed him some Gerber chicken-flavored baby food tonight. The fact that sentence even needs to be said is an indication of how stubborn his refusal to eat really is--normally kittens go absolutely nuts over that stuff. Case in point: Simon tried everything he could to steal some when I was trying to feed it to Sassafras. I finally gave in and put some on a saucer for Simon and he lapped it down in about 30 seconds flat. So Sassafras must really not be feeling well to refuse even the baby food. Hopefully, the new antibiotic will knock out the infection so he can start breathing freely and smelling again. It would be a shame for him to miss out on enjoying a treat that seems to be like candy for kittens.