Tarot is enough of a kitten that her purrsonality, like her body, is still under construction.
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Tarot is enough of a kitten that her purrsonality, like her body, is still under construction.
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She and her siblings, Treasure, Bing, Tate, and Tarot were found (with two other siblings who died) at a truck stop. Maybe their mom was moving them and got interupted by well-meaning humans, or perhaps something happened to her. Tarot and Treasure were dropped off at the Eastern Iowa Veterinary Specialty Center, where they became bottle babies. They were cared for by Jody and Tim who are veterinary technicians when they aren’t feeding bottle babies. Then came Bing and Tate. And finally, Tristan arrived. |
Live, Let Live, & Learn—If you happen to find young kittens (or other baby animals) without their mom, please think things through before you act. Bottle babies have very special needs (food, temperature, excretory, etc.) and require expert care. It’s easy to shift into “helping mode.” But momcats do kittencare best! Unless you are sure mom isn’t coming back, be prepared to quietly observe for awhile. Human intervention is not always what’s best for the animal! To paraphrase Antoine de Sainte-Éxupéry—you become responsible for those you rescue. |
In the meantime, Lily was about to wean her five six-week-old kittens so she could be spayed. We talked her dad into postponing the spay in hopes that Lily would accept the bottle babies and take care of them.
| At first Lily just stared at Tarot and Treasure, wondering who they were and why they were all in a cage together. The kittens mewed and mewed. Lily stared at them. We put them all in a small pet taxi, so they’d have to be touching one another, and within about five minutes, Lily’s milk bar was open for business. |  |
By the time Bing, Tate, and Tristan arrived a number of days later, Lily welcomed them and knew exactly what to do.
DOB: 7/07/06—Male.
Tarot likes: having a mom again.
She dislikes: not much!
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Confidence— |
Adaptable to change— |
| Plays well with others— |
Activity level— |
| General Temperament— |
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Tarot was a small, quiet, polite kitten. Not as tiny as her brother Bing, but still small. Being small and kind of boney, she didn’t have the physical reserves of his siblings. So when her appetite waned and she began losing weight, her well-being was quickly compromised. Not eating is never a good sign in a kitten. Yesterday, Tarot was very weak, dehydrated, and too tired to even swallow from a syringe. Tarot was 44 days old when she died last afternoon. |
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—not
much
—somewhat
—quite
a bit
—very
much!