Caring for Arien as a tiny neonatal kitten was very difficult. The sleep deprivation from waking up every 2 hours to use a syringe to feed her and baby wipes to help her pee hit me hard. And for those that know me, I don't handle lack of sleep all that well. 😁 The first two months are a bit of a blur to me (thankfully I have just about a gazillion videos and pictures of her). Caring for her got both progressively easier and harder at the same time. On the one hand, as she transitioned to a bottle, then to wet food, and finally to kibble, she was easier to feed (although she took a surprisingly long time to learn how to drink water from a bowl). But on the other hand, that transition also meant she needed help pooping as well as peeing, then she got constipated a couple times, and then eventually I had to be teach how to use a litter box, which was all tricky and at times very messy (she ended up having so many baths because that often seemed simpler than wipes). As she grew, she was also harder to contain and she needed toys. Since she didn't have siblings and Kira was avoiding her, I had to intentionally spend time playing with her between feedings, so I still didn't have much time to work. I'm really not sure how I managed to get anything else done those first couple months, but I apparently did because many of my friends and family met her as a tiny kitten.
Raising Arien was also a huge reward. Hearing her purr for the first time, seeing her reaction to me waking her up to care for her, watching her figure out how to walk, run, climb and jump, and having her follow me around the house so she could sleep in my lap while I worked were all experiences I cherish. And ultimately, I know that I saved her life and that made it all worth it. So here's to getting through 1 year with my little kitten and her precious mittens. 😊
I LOVE the look on Arien's face in the first one and the look on Kira's face in the second one. I think they were upset that I was making them share the chair. 😂
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