The Road Trips (Orphan Ferals) Adopted

The Road Trips arrived here on April 13, 2023. The Lancaster Animal Shelter called to say they had six kittens, all about three weeks old. Let’s call their birthday March 23. So the “Road Trips” were brought to the Shelter by a family from Florence, SC, which is about an hour and a half drive away. The family was on the way to Charlotte, but when they stopped the car near Lancaster, they heard a noise underneath – it was a litter of kittens. The kittens were hungry, dehydrated, wind-blown, dirty and had a few fleas, but otherwise seemed okay. A few of them have eye and upper respiratory infections, which we are treating, but that also means we are keeping them away from the Palindrome litter until we are reasonably sure nothing is transferable. The two fluffy white ones definitely don’t look like the other four and are significantly smaller. Different litter? Hard to tell with ferals. Could be a different dad, making them a few days apart in gestational age, which would account for the difference in color and size.

We believe we have four boys: Elgin, Archie, Tega, Wylie (all towns in South Carolina). The girls are Florence and Maggie (short for Magnolia).

Update April 20, 2023: Florence passed away peacefully this morning. She had been struggling for a few days with the same upper respiratory infection the entire litter has, but did not have the reserves to pull through. She was loved while we had her, and her life had meaning.

Update April 21, 2023: We lost Elgin today. He was the other Siamese-looking kitten from the litter. We have “kitchen sinked” this litter – Medically we threw everything at them but the kitchen sink. Elgin was held and cared for much of the day and passed quietly in the early evening.

Update April 25, 2023: We are sad to announce that Archie passed away this afternoon. He struggled valiantly, and we were hoping he had the reserves to stay with us until the antibiotics could take effect, but it wasn’t to be. We took the opportunity yesterday and today to spend a lot of time holding him. He was loved. Many of you who have adopted from CFF know what a miracle your kitten is: Bucky, Stitch, Julius, Frea, Chance, Oakley, and all the Mining Roads come to mind immediately. Let’s be sad a little while for the kittens we have lost, but then be thankful for the ones we get to keep. They are gifts.