Sunny
Friday March 07th, 2025
My spouse and I recently adopted a stray cat, one of many in our neighborhood who's been coming around for pets and food. She was pregnant, and we wanted to give her and her babies a chance of surviving the harsh winter. We weren't fully prepared for the realities of pet stewardship, but we wanted to do our best for her. We named her Sunny, because she's the lovingest, cuddliest, purringest cat either of us has ever seen (and because we wanted to show the world there's no reason a black cat can't be Sunny)
On Monday night she had her kittens, five adorable fuzzy jellybeans: three licorice, two cookies-and-cream. They were healthy and Sunny was taking the best care of them, until yesterday. She was running a high fever and hadn't drunk or eaten anything all day, and didn't seem to care about her kittens, which scared the hell out of us.
We took her to the emergency vet last night. A dear friend helped us with the ride (and lent us a cat carrier, and helped us feed ourselves, and was an all-around superhero.) They saw her fairly quickly. They did some tests and ruled out all the more terrifying diseases, held her overnight to help her rehydrate, and gave her antibiotics. She came home this morning, bright and energetic and purring again. She's looking for her kittens, but we can't let her nurse again yet due to the drugs, which is heartbreaking. My spouse and I have to learn how to feed 4-day-old kittens by hand (and help with their, um, ablutions.)
I've never been a pet parent before. My family had a few when I was growing up, but before I was old enough to be responsible for them. I've never had pets during my adult life because I've never lived anywhere they were allowed. This is all incredibly new for me and I've been an emotional wreck for the last 16 hours. But Sunny's home, she's okay, and I'm so incredibly relieved.
The babies are little balls of energy who are scared and want their mom and don't know exactly how to eat, but they're fighters. I'm somehow muddling through work after all this while my spouse is home taking care of my family. I wish I could be home with them, but we gotta pay these vet bills. I've experienced the full range of emotions in the past day and needed to get some of them out. I'd like to write more and respond to a couple recent posts, but work has been incredibly busy and I have to get back to it. Much love, everyone 🦝
