Posted at alt.binaries.pictures.animals are a few pictures of the last 2
remaining males from Sammy's June
litter that I kept.

The posting order came out a little screwed up since the wife was yakking at
me while I was putting the post together.

Two of the litter were adopted out to good homes at an
early age and are doing well. We decided originally to keep one of the
kittens and Nacho was chosen.

The remaining three, Cricket, Red, and Spot were placed for adoption through
the local humane society. Although I had reservations about this
arrangement, I wasn't getting any responses to the numerous flyers I had
placed and the humane society at least offered a no kill environment where
they could get exposure for adoption.

They spent one week in the receiving unit and I stopped back to visit them.
All appeared well but not terribly pleased with the accomodations. The staff
said they were waiting for the results of their FLV tests and would move
them to the adoption area in a day or so.

A return visit the next week found that 2 of the kittens - Cricket and Red
had died from a sudden onset of feline upper respiratory infection. Spot was
gravely ill, dehydrated, and near death. Spot was removed from the shelter
and taken to our vet immediately. After 2 days of antibiotics and
subcutaneous fluids the vet was at a decision point on whether to continue
treatment or euthanize Spot since he was not responding well to treatment.
We determined that due to the mouth and throat ulcers from the virus, Spot
hadn't eaten for about 8 days. The vitamin supplements in his IV fluids
weren't getting the job done. I opted to take Spot home to relieve his
depression and give him a bit of home comfort before euthanizing if that was
to be his fate.

Upon arriving home, I went to work on Spot. His spirits were lifted greatly
just being home again. I got some liquid Baby Orajel and administered some
with a syringe to take the pain out of his mouth and throat. A slurry of
Hills Science Diet A&D food was mixed with water and force fed through a 2
ounce bottle with the tip cut off the nipple. A few more feedings overnight
and Spot was definitely a new kitty. His weight at this point was 3lb 13 oz
compared to Nacho at 5lb 14 oz. Spot had lost about 35% of his body weight
to dehydration and malnutrition.

His course of treatment involved outpatient treatment at the vet daily for
subcutaneous fluids for a few days followed by Orajel and force feedings at
home every 4 hours. After the first week we kept him at home and continued
his recovery. Spot rapidly regained his weight and strength. When we let him
out of quarantine, the other cats at first rejected him outright. Spot began
a quest to install himself as the Alpha cat and proceeded to whip a.s on all
the others along with other dominance displays. They soon welcomed him as
their new leader.

Spot also welcomed me to the pride the next week when I got home from a week
on the road. He climbed up and began pulling at mustache hairs then
proceeded to nip lightly at my chin with a paw placed on my cheek. His
nipping turned to rather hard bites. When I tried to pull him away he
extended the claws gently into my cheek, drew back a little, looked right
into my eyes and growled a warning to sit still until he was done. He then
proceeded to groom me like he had each of the other cats, purring loudly the
whole time. This scene was repeated on the following two weekends when I
arrived home. Finally satisfied that I know my place in the pride, Spot has
bonded with me in a way that he doesn't share with any other human. Although
we intended to only keep one kitten, he has carved out a space in our hearts
and our home. He's finally home for good.