Turned around and growing like crazy!

 Jules has turned the corner and is doing great! His fecal sample was normal and while his stools are still a little softer than I'd like, they have improved a lot since a week ago. We'll continue giving probiotics for a while, given that he recently was on antibiotics. He's eating like crazy and is back to gaining weight.

He's enamored with both Lucy and Ringo, but especially Ringo. Ringo has been so patient and good with Jules, and this morning, he let Jules tackle him and they wrestled a little bit!

 

So far, so good

 I'm happy to report that Jules has been doing better since our vet visit. He's eating again without vomiting and overall seems perkier. We are checking the litter box, waiting for some output to let us know things are moving through his system normally. We're also waiting to hear back about his fecal sample testing.

He spent about 90 minutes in my lap last night. Gosh, this kitten is a love bug.

A little scare with Jules

 We've been battling soft stools since we adopted Jules, not uncommon with kittens. We dropped off a stool sample at the vet's right away, and the following week the vet gave him a dewormer just in case.

Things had started to improve, but then took a tumble this weekend. By Saturday afternoon he had watery stool (sorry if TMI) and by Monday morning, he was also vomiting. That scared me, so off to the vet's he went this morning. We brought along another stool sample. The in-house test was negative but they also sent some out just in case.

He got fluids, cerenia, and metronidazole, plus a couple of x-rays. The vet was concerned about a possible area in his gut. We are hoping it's just a big pocket of gas, but he couldn't tell for sure.

We're watching and waiting right now. So far, he seems ok and has eaten some food.

Here he is in the very old, yet very beloved wicker bed. This bed is about 25 years old and every cat we've had loves/loved it. Looks like Jules approves too.

Jules and Ringo play patty paws

 Please enjoy this video of our two boys playing by a door. So cute!

Growing like crazy

Things with Jules have been good, for the most part. He's a voracious eater--we've never had a kitten so crazy about food. He has eaten anything in his bowl without question, canned, raw, and freeze-dried food. He's gained 6 ounces since we adopted him.

He's learned what a sunbeam is and loves lounging on the bed in the sun.

Ringo has made great progress with him and they even played a tiny bit together today (of course, Jim witnessed this and not me)! Lucy is still pretty cautious but continues to improve.

Integrating into the household

 Ringo and Lucy have made amazing progress with Jules in just 5 days. This morning, I took this adorable photo of the three of them.

Is there hissing? Of course. But Jules seems to respect the other cats when they hiss and either backs away or just goes to do something else.

I downloaded a fishing game for cats, and he was playing it last night. The squee factor was pretty high!

Please welcome Jules

After the holidays, Jim and I decided we were ready to adopt a new youngster into our household. We went to the shelter where we adopted Ringo, but unfortunately no kitties were a match for us.

I learned about an event at a local pet store from a rescue group called Texas Rescue Riders. They're an all-volunteer group who saves cats and dogs slated for euthanasia and drives them to Wisconsin for adoption. We went to the store and, while they didn't have any kitties there, we talked to the cat adoption coordinator about what we were looking for.

As luck would have it, they were having a cat and dog adoption event at their headquarters the next day! And bonus, the headquarters was only 15 minutes away from our home.

When we arrived, we each took a kitten to hold and interact with. Jim immediately knew that the brown-and-white tabby he was holding was destined to be ours. When he passed the kitten to me, the little guy reached out his paw and put it on my chest. His fate was sealed.

Please meet Jules, who's about 14 weeks old. He's a social, loveable little guy who is so curious about the world around him (and badly wants to make friends with Lucy and Ringo). He has a mild case of cerabella hypoplasia, which makes him a little wobbly, but it's not slowing him down and we're learning what works best for him (especially with playtime and stairs).

Slowly making friends with Ringo.

His stool sample came back clean, so we're letting him explore the house and get to know the other cats. He has his first vet visit next week, but is already neutered and has all vaccines except rabies.

Both cats are making good progress with him and we're hopeful they will be friends in time. Jules has not been overly aggressive or annoying with either cat, and we're monitoring them all carefully.