Gisela's journey

April 2, 2011, 4:18 AM

The Lil' Mama and her 5 babies arrived this afternoon.

Lil' Mama is tiny herself but seems to be doing well. I've gotten her settled in. The kittens (about 2 1/2 weeks old) are slow, but slightly mobile; generally quiet, just mew softly when mom gets up to stretch.
two grey striped tabbies [one w/more white foot markings than the other]--Gisela and Erik
one dark grey/white - mostly solid--Lars
one lighter grey - mostly solid--Greta
one solid black--Ingrid

One of the two striped tabbies (Gisela) has something odd going on with its eyes; the lids seem to have trouble opening but not for "goo" reasons; they are extremely slanted, with the outer corners being much higher than the inner corners, and look somewhat 'stretched'; whereas all the others seem to be the normal appearance for their age -- some almost fully open w/one having that newborn look of open eyes but not really focusing on much yet. I'll observe "Chan" for any other abnormalities, but it does not seem to be injury or infection-related at least for now.

4/13/11
All kittens [except Gisela who is developmentally behind and yesterday her vision/neurological problems were confirmed by the diagnosis of hydrocephalus] are quite active, playful, and have reached the near-1Lb. mark!
It's so hard to see Gisela lag behind but she's a real sweetheart and loves being held, petted, and talked to.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 10:08 PM

I'm guessing at least partial prayers were heard in that while we were planning Gisela's euthanasia/cremation, as of this afternoon, she's still with us and unbelievably improved since this past weekend. To say they were grueling days would be an understatement.

Gisela is still blind and is a bit tipsy but is still trying her hardest to survive and participate in Life along with her hearty siblings Greta, Ingrid, Erik and Lars.

All were weighed about a week or so ago and the kittens were just shy of 1 lb. each [except for Gisela who lagged at 10 oz.]. Though it appears that Gisela may be blind, currently it does not slow her down all that much as she's improved a great deal since the scary weekend. She may always have neurological "special needs", or even live a full lifespan due to the hydrocephalus symptoms. But Gisela is the sweetest one of the five, and loves to be held and snuggled in a blankie and held on my chest and talked to and petted along the back of her head and neck. Time will tell if she will make it to full growth, and if she indeed survives, what deficits she may have to compensate for from an extra-understanding human family

4/21/11

The 4 kittens are now so active and able to run, jump and hop over low items. I will still need to supervise Gisela because although she's walking so MUCH better than before she still gets lost in the room, and I've caught the siblings gang jumping on her; even though it's in play, she's still very fragile compared to the others and at times has to be "rescued".

4/22/11

Took the cat family to the vet today. Dr. M looked at Gisela and though he was pleased that she was still with us, confirmed again that the hydrocephalus will eventually take her.

Sadly, she has not gained even an ounce since they were all last weighed. And momcat Sigrid is still skinny at about 7.5 lbs.

The only good news is that the 4 siblings are all at around 1 lb 5 oz. +/-. So at that rate, they will reach their 2 lb mark even before their 8 week b'day!

It would be more kind to put Gisela down before she suffers but for now he said just enjoy her for as long as she's w/us; he also has told me that when it's "time", I will know, even as hard as it is, and will do the right thing at that time.

Sunday, April 24, 2011, 3:44 PM

Gisela began to eat out of the bowl of canned A/D today; needed a little coaxing as her siblings were distracting [racing around the room in play] and Sigrid trying to wolf down any/all food offered to her before having to stop and 'supervise' her herd.

Gisela tried to locate momcat's front nipple [her favorite station] but Sigrid would not lie down or even crouch down but stood up to eat with only her head/neck bent down. Poor little Gisela kept rooting around, even flopped over on her back under mom like a mechanic under a car up on a lift!
Maybe we'll get another miracle for Gisela after all? First was that she was pulled from certain euthanasia or death from illness/exposure; second that she is still with us even after planning her funeral less than two weeks ago.

April 26, 2011, 8:20 PM- eye problem returning in Gisela

this morning her R eye was partially closed again which is upsetting b/c they'd been doing better for over a week. tried the eye drop again in that eye & will observe. not sure what the source of the eye/eyelid symptoms; might be tied to the neurological.
Friday, May 6, 2011, 3:34 AM--did I do a Rip Van Winkle since yesterday?

Just came back to rest my back after doing momcat & kitten duty tonight, and I SWEAR they've grown an additional half their length since 6 am -- this morning!

I've known field corn in IL to grow that fast overnight, but this is ridiculous!!

Although Gisela is still very small, she is at least mostly proportional, though she still has wee kitten size and shape, Doesn't slow her down, though -- what a trooper!!!

5/9/11
Gisela is just now reaching an even 1 lb., but has much the same energy and spirit that her siblings have, even though she cannot [yet] jump as high or as far. She has everything else down pat, including the pounce, rough and tumble play strategies.

The other kittens are reaching strength and agility benchmarks that I cannot believe at this age!

Today, somebody [I suspect Sigrid] knocked a half roll of paper towels off the shelf in the foster room that I use for their dishes and food prep, then the kittens had a grand time tearing it into small bits and scattering it about the entire room. Sigh. Why spend a lot of money on toys when they can have every bit as much joy out of a simple piece of paper towel or a hand towel.

5/13/11
Gisela is doing as well as can be expected. She's been slow to awaken for several days, and her eyes seem very closed. But once she's fully awake and moving around, she's FAST!

The siblings are getting so big! Not very heavy, mostly long and lean at this phase, but they seem healthy, happy, and love attention, especially when they stretch full length on their backs and get a belly rub.

5/18/11 Sigrid and 4 kittens fixed today!

6/1/2011

Dr Maxwell weighed Gisela this evening while she was there to have her inflamed eyes looked at and treated. She finally hit the 2 pound mark!!! Yay Gisela--Big Girl!!!

6/4/11 Erik was adopted today!
He's fitting in with the two dogs

6/14/11 Ingrid adopted today!
She's going home to another cat.

6/16/11 Lars adopted today!
Lars went to a home with a 1 1/2 year old cat that wanted a playmate

6/20/11 Greta adopted today!
Greta went to a home with 2 young adult cats

6/24/11
Gisela has gone through several names over the past 11 weeks that she's been here: Gisela as consistent with her siblings; then Miracle as she definitely received several just to still be here; then Trooper because she fought so hard at every milestone to survive even though she lagged behind her siblings developmentally.

Now I've been calling her "Prancy" because she does -- up and down the hallways, especially when she's so proud of herself for accomplishing some new achievement of strength, climbing, jumping, etc.

She gets along so well with all the "Big Cats" even if all of them aren't thrilled with her pouncing on their tails, climbing all over them and in general being a pain. But they're usually pretty tolerant of her and will only nip like a momcat when she gets out of control or plays too hard; they put her in her place -- only for her to come back for more!