Go ahead and say it: Dani has finally fostered failed. How does one not, with this disgruntled cowboy face?

Following his FVRCP vaccine, Stewart was losing weight even with regular meals. We were worried he wasn’t going to make it. After all, his mom abandoned him from the rest of the litter, presumably thinking he wouldn’t make it.

The vet suggested that if he were underdeveloped, then perhaps his liver isn’t processing food the way a liver for a cat his age’s should. She suggested feeding him smaller portions more frequently, the way one does for baby kittens.

We’ve been feeding him this way for about a month, and he has grown to catch up to his sisters. When we first received his sisters, he was about a third smaller than they were.

He’s growing long-wise into a string bean kitty. The vet says that we can do some blood tests to check if his liver has gotten stronger since, which we’ll probably do in the coming weeks. We’re hoping that his liver has matured. If it hasn’t, it’s also possible that this will be a chronic condition, and he’ll need to be fed this way permanently. Not a terrible thing really.

In related news, I’ve decided to keep him. When he was sick and we weren’t positive if he would live, Patches was concurrently experiencing her decline. It just felt right that if Stewart had the chance to live, that he should stay with us.

Stewart on the mend happened following the week of Patches’ passing. I’ve always had a soft spot for him, having been a bottle feed. But I think the pain of losing Patches made me take a little longer to really see him as more than just another foster cat. Now, I absolutely love my little baby and I could never give him up for adoption.

We’re leash training him now. He has a little green harness that we found in the dog section. He’s taken a couple car rides with us, and has gotten used to laying in my arms during the ride and falling asleep. Our only hiccup occurred when visiting a foster, and getting into their apartment elevator with a St. Bernard. The dog was happy to see him, but the feeling was not returned. I got a smack in the face from Stewart for that.

Speaking of, we want to rename him Clue. All of our cats have a board game theme. However, similar to Bitey, we have a feeling he’s going to have a double alias, since it’s hard to start calling him something else.