delayed update

Lazarus is three weeks and three days old! praise to God because he is such a healthy baby!

no more enemas!!! Lazarus previously had to be given enemas twice daily because he was unable to defecate-this is because of the kitten formula and is extremely common with hand raised kittens. I do not like giving him enemas and hearing his little meows get so loud and scretchy because it has to be uncomfortable when someone squirts water up your colon. so I was relieved when simple stimulation finally started to work! he is now off all medication.

yesterday was a big day for him, it was the first time he showed playfulness!! I let him on the carpet in our new house (needs some supervised excercise time) and he was talking several steps at a time and falling over quite a bit when all the sudden he started batting at my arm, grabbed it with his two front claws and bit me!! yay lol!! it may not be fun in a week because his teeth are going to bw sharp then lol, but it is so great to see him play!!

mild retardation is pretty expected because he was without oxygen for quite sometime. I do believe the doctors have got that wrong though, they also said he wouldn't survive long and here he is! so far I have seen nothing to suspect that he will have any brain damage in any way, but if course he is still growing. I will not be surprised at all if he begins to act slow or strange in some kind of way, it would only make since because his body was so tiny and lifeless for about an hour until I came in and saw the little guy take a breath..then it took me (God working through me) an hour to revive him after that. but I have been praying that he will be a normal healthy cat. I will of course love him no matter what, he has stolen a part of my heart!!

he is acting completely normal for his age so I think he is going to be great, call me crazy but God has a plan for this kitty. the vet who pulled him said "something was working that day because I had the uterus completely clamped off and he should not have been alive". I told her it was God! God cares even for the insignificant little creatures.

I have introduced him to some kitty gruel: royal canin baby cat can food mixed with his KMR. he has began to lick it off my finger but he really prefers his bottle. today, for the first time, he was licking the little baby cat gruel off his plate!! I will still have to give bottle too because he simply does not eat enough of the gruel. Lazarus should be eating on his own in about a week!!
make sure to look at his pictures on facebook to see him!

all these two hour feedings...now three and a half hours...I know I will make a good mom if God ever gives us the privilege of being parents.

God will meet all of your needs!

Lazarus Day 11

Lazarus is changing a lot! Yesterday his tiny little eye is beginning to show itself. Today, he is peeking out a little more. Apparently all little kittens are born with blue eyes that may or may not change to a new color in a couple weeks.

He is also sucking his thumb (dew claw, much cuter to say thumb).

My upmost favorite thing that he is doing today...purring!!

Health wise, I am still giving little ememas. He is getting 1ml of Lactulose bid (2x a day) and sweet potato baby food mixed in his formula to stimulate bowel movements. I will be relieved when Lazarus begins to defecate without enemas.

Worship God with everything you do in your life. Going to church does not make you Christian, it is how you live.

day 9!

The past couple of days little Lazarus has not been popping well. The little guy absolutely adores eating, so I know that must produce some waste!

Yesterday at work Dr Heather took a look at him with me. He needed to have an enema. I have given many enemas in the past, but never to a teenie kitten. So, after the first one thank God a huge blob of poo came out. I think Lazarus actually had an expression of relief on his face!

After this enema, (I have no idea if I am spelling that right) he was supposed to go back to normal. Of course, he didn't. So I gave him an enema at 6pm, 12am, and 6am. It did work well at the 6pm one, but not the others. Dr said he should be going a tiny bit every two hours.

Well today, Dr looked at this tiny yet fat kitten again. She got on VIN. VIN is my favorite thing ever, veterinarians post everything on this forum type site. However, you must be a vet to access it. Veterinarians post about very odd cases, questions, and opinions. I actually got a Dr I previously worked with to let me on it. Wow, it is amazing.

VIN posts concluded that this is an extremely common issue with kittens on KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer). There is no need to worry unless the little life is not eating or ADR (ain't doin right). Yay!

Now, kitten might have to have an enema every once in a while. He is also on lactose, and apparently mixing sweet potato baby food with KMR can possibly help. He also got dewormed, and I will continue to deworm every two weeks.

I definitely feel like a baby Mama! Of course I love it. He is to be fed every two hours until two weeks of age. Then at 3 weeks every 3 hours, 4 weeks 4 hours. I believe my body will appreciate a full night sleep in a few weeks. :-)


You are more than the sum of your past mistakes.

very quick update

1 week old today and Lazarus is growing so quickly! one more week and his little eyes and ears should be opening. Praise God.

Be an example of God every day.

Day number 6!!!!

Lazarus is growing extremely quickly! He still requires feedings promptly every two hours. I am doing really well for my lack of sleep, however I am now attempting to go to sleep after his 8pm feeding. I do believe I will be able to go to every two and a half hours tomorrow.

I worked today at the vet office, and the doctor now says he has a good prognosis. 6 days ago he had a very poor prognosis. God has done a miracle in this tiny life!

My husband is glad to have a cat around. He is more of a cat person and I am more of a dog person. I am very glad that we are moving to a nice house that is much larger! it would be crowded with three dogs and a cat in the house here ha! God is our provider .

Lazarus is now very active and he will be one week old tomorrow! He is now crawling faster, yawning, and streching. His cute precious meow is even louder! He is changing every single day. Pics are on facebook.

Tomorrow I am going to Knoxville to my nanny job. Three toddlers...one, two, and three. Of course Lazarus will be with me everywhere I go, so this will be interesting. I think I will turn the tv on while I feed Lazarus, those babies love some tv.

I apologize that my blog is a bit rushed and very unorganized, but I am in a big hurry. :)

God will provide all of your needs.

What a night

Short update on Lucy: no seizure since 4am, praise God!

Feeding little Lazarus every two hours is very demanding. but yet I am awake at 8am and I do not think I will be back to sleep. in between Lucy having seizures the night was a little difficult, but we all pulled through. my husband has been so amazing through this, helping me with our dogs, fixing our meals, running into town for me.

At 6 am I nudged little Lazarus to wake up his tiny little body, it was time to eat. also he has to have stimulation on his you know what, otherwise he would never use the bathroom. momma cats usually lick them down there, and when she does then they pee and poo. I use a damp warm cotton ball...anyway...as I picked up his little soft body I noticed his poor tummy is huge!! I do believe he is bloated. I just talked to the vet who pulled him out and she says she thinks he will be fine, perhaps constipated, but he has been pooping pretty well. might need to do a teenie enima. I did get (paul went to walmart) some infant relief gas drops, and gave him the tiniest bit. so we will see how he does, but Praise God! Lazarus is growing and now is 4 days old!!

Worship God through every aspect of your life today: with song, with how you live and treat people, and the choices you make.

day 3

Kitten's name is officially Lazarus.

He is doing great! I upped his feeding .5mls and will do that every day. he will be fed every two hours for 2 weeks, then it will change to every four hours at 3-5 weeks. I am very excited to see where this is going to go and looking forward to him growing up. now praying God will give me strength to get through the next several weeks with little sleep, but I am not too worried I know He will.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

Lucy has been an amazing dog, and her story is for another blog. Long story short we rescued her two and a half years ago, right after we got married. she was at least ten years old then. who ever had her did not spay her and she had puppies some time in her life. she is a classic example of why everyone needs to spay dogs at a young age. she had mamary tumors...breat cancer. and yes if she were spayed she would not have these tumors. but she pulled through. after two surgeries her tumors were found to be benign. praise God! she has lived a happy life since we have had her, she plays and has the personality of a puppy. but one day she had a seizure. this is where I will cut the story short, because this is supposed to be about the journey of Lazarus. she was put on meds and everything has been wonderful. except for the two times her seizures came back and we had to up her dose. Lucy is a fighter and she is like my child.

this morning I woke up to her having another seizure, called her wonderful veterinarian and she approved me giving the gabapentin every 6 hours instead of 8. also I had some valium on hand which I gave her to stop her little body from seizing. I know there is not much left to do, she may have a tumor on her tiny innocent brain...

I have prayed for several months that when she goes she will go in her sleep, peacefully in my lap.. no suffering. my God is a big God and I know He can do that for me.

pray without ceasing.