but I am pleased to announce that Lucky has pooped twice today! This last time, a nice little kitty turd.

In other non-potty news, Lucky is 

a) clearly still alive; 

b) still being fed from a small syringe– I knew those remnants from retired biology professors’ lab would come in handy one day (crappy old stuff);

c) making suckling motions against everything that’s warm. (Janette at our vet told me they have teeny tiny nipples in stock. I’ll pick some up tomorrow.);

d) squirming like crazy;

e) controlling her body temperature by moving about her box.

I take these all as good signs with respect to Lucky’s prospects for the future. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

However, let’s not forget about Lucky’s Mother. And (I’d bet, semi-incestuous) Father.* And my T-shirt that says, “DNA is Life. The Rest is Just Details.” We are doing the best we can with respect to the details– the environment. None of us have any control over Lucky’s DNA (although we can control its expression by manipulating Lucky’s environment). 

Life is complicated. 

* Our neighbor has a boat load of cats. (I understand how one can come to have a boat load of cats so I’m not passing judgment, although someone should.) One of his boatload— the black cat that wanders around the farm– is Lucky’s mother. And another– the back and white cat that I’d seen earlier this spring/winter hanging out with the black cat– I think, is Lucky’s father. How distantly related Lucky’s parents are is anybody’s guess. 

One final thought. 

We feed her– yeah, sure maybe Lucky is a “he” but I think it’s better to err on one side or the other than to be neutral— every three hours. Yesterday, I offered to take over the 9:30 feeding because Miss M had done the 9:30, 12: 30, 3:30 and 6:30 feedings the night before. Miss M said, “No. You got to be with her all day.”