Hand reared kitten named Horatio...

[Ginny]

Hi,

I just really want to share my experience with you all. I hand reared Horatio from 7 days old. He was found in someones garden in a bag, and I've had him since that day and love him to bits! It was a wonderful, infuriating experience and I would do it all over again .. compared to all my other cats I've ever had he is soooo different. I'm a huge animal lover, and have always had rescued cats, and they have had major problems bless them. I've dealt with health problems, psychological problems, and in my opinion have given them the best quality of life that was possible for them. The only cat I have left from my rescued babies is one who is 13 now, and she's totally wonderful. So cuddly and lovely now .. she sits here by my piano with her old grey hairs waiting for me to just take her up to bed after a little tune!

But anyway, Horatio .. my little horror. He is THE most adorable thing you have ever seen. When I picked him up he was unable to walk, unable to see .. and I am so proud of him for putting up with me and my son all those weeks he needed us for his survival. And I'm proud of myself for losing sleep too, through his feeding needs! Although I found it so much easier than bringing up a human baby! H has now made friends with the neighbours cats, they were hand reared too! He's about to go in to get neutered too. The only problem I have is that he's scared of the cat flaps we have, and we have 2 to get outside here. I've propped them open with string for now, but here in the UK it's getting colder, so it won't be long before I have to shut them. I've never ever had this problem before, so any advice welcome.

Thanks for reading

[coppersmom]

I don't have any advice on the cat flaps...sorry. But I wanted to say that I hand-reared my Copper too. He was about 2 weeks old when I found him though. Yes, it was hard. But when the vet tech told me to bring him in at (I forget how many weeks) for his first shots "if he makes it until then" the challenge was on! He is my big, bad orange boy and I love him to pieces!!