Greetings Dear Reader π
Today is a very special date to me, dear reader. It's Loki's first birthday π»! I talked about him, a little bit, in my intro post, but today I felt like celebrating... Celebrating his life since it didn't had a great start.
And what a better way to do so by sharing with all of you what this day means to me and in what ways Loki changed in my life (note to self - hopefully as short as intended π€£).
π₯³π₯³ Happy (estimated) Birthday Loki π₯³π₯³
Photo taken by my partner @ethereumkiller β€οΈ (still trying to convince him to start interacting and posting on Hive π€)
The first month π€―
You see, dear reader, Loki was my first contact as a mother (note to self - dad would think I'm crazy). I always felt a bit weird saying mother when refering to my pets π. But that is, in fact, what I am regarding Loki.
I'll guide you, dear reader, to what I realized when caring and nurturing a completely dependent being. That life that depends on what you do and the weight of that responsability quite opened my eyes.
Taking care of Loki since he was a newborn gave me a sense of what motherhood can be. Both the good/romanticized part as the bad and challeging parts. Between some sleep deprivation and a constant sense of worrying and always checking him I was really afraid back then if he would survive.
He came to my house from the street because the cat mother was missing. Me and my partner estimated that he would be around 15 days old at this time, since his eyes were already open, but sadly very much infected π (note to self - putting cream in cats eyes is not an easy task).
The prognosis was bad... When we went pick him up from a friend's house, already in mind that we would adopt him, we found out he wasn't fed for a whole day. Newborns needs to be fed every 3 hours or so, so Loki was in a really bad shape π. Really weak and almost not moving at all. Sings of prostration are also a bad sign for the odds of survival.
The first bottle feedings were very challenging. He didn't had the strenght to eat and didn't had the skills. I remember being so afraid to squeeze the bottle to much and choke him. Slowly we manage to fed him and in a day he started to regain some strengh and was already able to suck by himself the milk from the bottle. @ethereumkiller gave me permission to share a photo of him feeding Loki. Not the best quality photo but it was Loki's first fed with us, so it's important to me β€οΈ
At this age, newborn cats can't regulate their on body temperature and they usually sleep beneath their mothers to stay warm. At this point it was like my motherly instincts kicked in and I thought it would be good to do some skin to fur contact π»(skin to skin contact between the mother and newborn child is seen on nature with many species. And in humans the benefits of skin to skin contact after childbirth is widely documented in the scientific literature).
In the picture below you'll find him on my neck π Always difficult to take pictures of him at night so you can't see it quite right. But again, this is an important picture to me and with emotional value β€οΈ
But then... We noticed he wasn't defecating which is also a big problem as they can die if they don't poop. The expected is that they defecate at least once a day. We got to 48 hours since arriving into our house and nothing happend... And he already had spent 1 day at a friend's house so we didn't know when the last time he pooped was.
Don't you worry, dear reader, I won't post a picture of his first poop π€£
But anyway, we were on day 3 and nothing... We tried everything. Belly rubs and massage with a warm wet tissue to stimulate the intestines the way cat mothers do with their tongue, giving him medication, stimulating the anus with a thermometer (yap π© not fun at all) and the desperation starts to kick in. We were in confinement due to the pandemic at the time, so we at least had to be home most of the day and I was basically unemployed at the time.
Thankfully everything worked out and his gut started to work on day 3 with us! I remember it like it was yesterday. I woke up at 6AM still with one eye half closed and noticed a little brown stain π₯³π₯³. His intestines started to work a little too well on day 4 π as I explain why after the hapiness of his achivement quickly faded due to tiredness and sleep deprivation.
The first month Loki joined the family my days were like the following:
My shifts started at 6AM and my partner covered the night.
Boil watter and sterelize the feeding bootles
Prepare a feeding bottle and feed Loki.
Clean the pus out of his eyes with a warm wet tissue. Aplly antibiotic cream.
Belly massage for 15 minutes. During 2 days doing all the extra stimulation I mentioned.
Clean him with warm wet tissue whenever he peed or pooped (after day 4 was like 2/3 times a day)
Warm up the bag we had below him to keep him warm when we were not doing skin to fur
Repeat every 3 hours
We didn't expect him to survive in the begginig but we've realized Loki's a fighter πͺ Yet so sweet and continued to love to sleep in close contact (especially with me, right) @ethereumkiller? π€
But he did! All the effort was so worthy! He's a big "panther like" cat now! Full of strenght and always demanding some play time π And he's the sweetest cat I've ever met! Always asking to be peted and to play. Loves to sleep between my boyfriend and me on top of our legs in postures like this π Also loves to scratch the couch and that is why, dear reader, you'll see little threads coming π
3 ways Loki changed my life π
It's so much harder to leave home in the morning π Not to mention the cuteness but he loves to play with my shoe strings π So in the morning, whenever I sit in the couch to get ready for work he demands some play time and in the meantime scratches a bit more of our couch.
Buying expensive toys is useless π
This measuring tape is his favorite toy... He loves to
pursue this around the living room, to jump and catch it when we hold it high. And the most impressive to me, when he grabs it with his teeth and runs around to another house division π€£ It is hilarious to watch but sadly I was never able to capture this moment in photography π
So he changed my life by bringing so much happiness and laughter in a dark period of my life, reminding me on what matter. π
Building a deep connection with Loki has been a wounderful journey! I adore the little 'miau' he makes when he ask for fondling and his at ease posture around humans π» After Loki's arrival my life started to improved in every aspect!
I am never alone, ever again. Happy Birthday π
Aww. What a little cutie. I had a black cat with three legs growing up. They are so cool.
Each one is so unique! I already met quite a few cats and they were all very different in personality π
Curiously all the black cats I met were all very sweet and at ease with humans... What about your experience with black cats? π€
Our black cat was one of my favorites pets we have ever had. He was so sweet.
Happy birthday Loki!! I am so glad he survived and you and your partners efforts, paid off so well!! Just awesome!!
Hihi thank you! π
Loki is adorable!!! That first picture with his little tongue out is class.... We always had cats growing up not dogs, but we have a little puppy now, called Coco and she is such a little character and very much part of our family since joining us in July last year.
Oiwww ^^ Actually for me it was the opposite. I had a dog growing up and now have 2 cats π ahaha
Have you ever talked about Coco in your posts? I would love to read it π€
Ya I've done a few over the last few months, here's one I found..
https://hive.blog/hive-196708/@ablaze/morning-walk-with-a-full-moon-and-coco-loco
What a cutie!! πΆπ
Loki also likes to dip in the water π€£ Whenever someone takes a bath he tries to join in π€£π€£
I love it, first of all happy birthday to Loki. I wouldn't think you are crazy, really motherhood can be experienced in many ways and you have experienced it with this cute cat. Thank you for sharing this in the community and welcome to it.
Thank you! After meeting Loki he changed my view in what motherhood means and I now agree with you, it can be experienced in many ways π
Happy to be in the community π
Congratulations @blackdaisyft! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next target is to reach 200 upvotes.
Your next target is to reach 600 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Feliz cumpleaΓ±os Loki, que sean muchΓsimos mas. Me encanto tu publicaciΓ³n.
Thank you! π Muchas gracias!
happy birthday to LokiΒ΄s
Thank you π
Oh my, Loki is so cuddly and adorable. I can't imagine the worrying you have been through during his first days with you. He was so tiny then and look at him now hehe. It's nice that he loves playing and sleeping with you. I wish him a Happy Birthday still although a little too late :)
Hehehe thank you honey! He thanks you as well π» He's a really big cat now but still so sweet and cuddly! Do you have any pets or would you like to have one? π
You are very welcome and Loki tooπ€ The husband and I have no pets until now. Although at one time, we adopted a neighbor's cat until it went back to his homeπ
thank you π€£
Happy Birthday to Loki and what a gorgeous looking catπ Just love the tongue sticking out, and yes so often the best toys are simple and free hehe
Great heart warming post and popping in from dreemport
π€£π€£π€£π€£ Actually when Loki first pooped I was so excited I totally forgot to take a picture at the time π€£π€£π€£ If there was a video of my reaction it would be very funny to whatch! ahaha
Thank youuu! I'm a very proud mommy and I get really perky when someone says he's pretty or compliments his fur πππ
He is a big cat now but sometimes I still catch him with his tongue out ahahah π
He's so damn shinny π»π»π»
hehe is very shiny, and we believe that if a black cat runs in front of you, then it will bring you luck. Loki has brought you luck as you a proud mummy now :)
So much luck!! πππ sometimes I want to squezze him so hard arrrghh, like cuteness overload!