So we considered if we should re-visit the idea of getting Mary Lou to foster them. First, we needed to move Mary Lou and her 3 babies from the ICU to the Suite, so that she would have more space. This was also because eventually the babies would have to learn the litter box, and the Suite's litter box was shallower and easier for kittens to learn about.
We tried her out with Junie first, because we were most worried about her.
Mary Lou accepted her! Junie suckled hungrily, and thereafter Mary Lou groomed her clean too.
Mary Lou also enjoyed staying in the Suite far more, because she could hide under the second level of the pen, she felt safer, and thereafter far less aggressive.
We then realised that BabyBlack and BabyTabby also had teary eyes. We administered Terramycin eye medication and kept cleaning their eyes with cotton and water so the eyes could breathe.
MaryLou's babies showing signs of teary eyes meant that all of the kittens were flu' carriers already, so the flu issue - the other reason why we wanted to not let the Jurong West kittens be together with Mary Lou and her kittens - was nullified. They were all already carriers of flu'.
So we decided that we could try Mary Lou with Joey and Wes too. Because they knew how to eat, we have placed in Mary Lou's pen kitten food - milk and canned food - so that they can continue to experiment with eating on their own. Mary Lou accepted them.
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| Behind: Mary Lou. From left: Junie, Wes, BabyTux, Joey, BabyTabby, BabyBlack |
In the meantime, we will monitor how the fostering goes. Also, we will be giving the kittens supplements to fight the flu' as well as applying eye medication for all the kittens who show signs of conjunctivitis.
Junie already looks better, more alert, and getting along well with her new foster siblings.
