Hi everyone! I wanted to do an update about my favorite little bobble-head purrito, Hanky-Panky!
I wanted to share some of the cutest moments from Hanks first three weeks of life.
Hank was just four days old when someone brought her to a Petco and left her there, covered in fleas and with no mother.
We named her Hank, short for Hanky, because when she was dropped off at the store she was brought there in a tissue box!
That first night we spent hours getting her warm and fed, cleaning her up, and literally picking bugs off her tiny face.
It's like fighting a war against little aliens.
When you're caring for an orphan that young, you have to be so careful to ensure that they're receiving proper care. That their temperature is consistent and warm.
That they're eating a high-quality and fresh formula, and that they aren't facing any medical issues that could cause problems.
But of course, Hank did have some medical problems. A few days into being here, she came down with an eye infection called neonatal ophthalmia.
An infection that impacts the eyes before they're open.
Even though her eyes were still closed from being a neonate, I had to manually open them in order to save the eyes from the infection that was happening underneath the lids.
If you want to see her eye treatment, make sure you watch my video Neonate Ophthalmia.
Fortunately, after just a few days of antibiotics, her eyes were looking amazing, and she was ready for her next adventure.
A road trip to New York City!
As you might know, one of the main things I do is teach classes on kitten care. So I was hired to do two kitten classes with Meow Parlor, a cat cafe in NYC.
So just like any working mom, when work calls you gotta figure it out.
Since I live just four hours away in DC, I did a road trip with Hank, my boyfriend Andrew, and my little sister Lily.
Make sure you watch my How To Road Trip With Kittens video to see how great Hank did on the drive.
A LOT happened while we were in New York, ya'll!
First of all, Hank was the star of the show at my workshop.
Everyone loved getting to learn from watching her care.
She looked so tiny up there in front of a room full of workshop attendees.
Another thing that happened in New York was we got more kittens!
I had mentioned wanting some buddies for Hank, since she's a solo baby. So New York ACC came with three three week olds who needed a foster home.
So, like the sucker I am, I agreed to take them on.
Oooh, you got sprayed, sorry.
I did? Yes.
(Laughter)
We drove back from New York with all four of them, and since then we've named them the three little bears- Grizzly, Kodiak, and Sun Bear.
Probably the funniest thing that happened while we were in New York was my discovery that he is actually a she.
When I rescued her, I was so focused on getting her well that I didn't actually look to see what sex she was.
I just called her he and kinda forgot about it.
It's far more common for orange cats to be male, because the gene that codes for orange fur is on the X chromosome.
So I kind of default to assuming that if the kitten is orange, it's more likely that they're also male.
But orange cats can be female, and Hank is.
She's a girl!
I'm sorry I thought that you were a boy.
I love the name so much, even for a girl, so we're still calling her Baby Girl Hank.
Watching Hank grow has been so fun. She's gone from being just 90 grams to being 300 grams.
Tripling in weight, ears starting to perk up, and she even recently started learning how to walk.
Hank's first steps were so adorable.
Now she follows me around everywhere I go, like a baby duck.
At three weeks old, she's still a bottle baby, and I'm stil waking up in the middle of the night to feed her.
But she's also becoming more independent by the day.
She's slowly figuring out the litter box, her vision is improving, and she's becoming more and more curious.
Recently, she discovered the joys of playing inside my shirt.
Her little personality is shining through, and I can't wait to see the awesome little cat she becomes.
Just like all my kittens, I'll have Hank until she's about 8 weeks old and adoptable.
Please make sure you subscribe to my channel to see more Hank videos, and to see Hank get adopted!
If you click subscribe and then click the little notifications bell, you'll get an alert every single time I upload a new video.
Thanks so much for watching Hank grow!