we called him ocho....

he was the last one out

arriving long after all the others had been born

and

was immediately dubbed

the runt

~

he fought so hard

only to be pushed away by his much stronger siblings

~

i wasn't there to see any of them come into the world

but

my daughter was

and

even though she hated the name ocho

she had decided that he was the one she would take home

and

maybe call

small frye

~

he struggled

and

at first we thought he couldn't suck

but

after finding him attached to a sibling's ear and then a paw

we knew that wasn't a problem

~

as my sister went to buy a supplemental bottle and formula

i tried continually to get a nipple in his mouth

even pulling his siblings off in order to get an elongated one that he could latch onto

~

but

he didn't

and

when my sister returned he refused the bottle

~

hours later and into the night

my sister sent me an email and said she had finally gotten him attached and that he'd been nursing for 15 minutes

~

victory

~

but

as the days went on

he never really progressed like the others

always behind

always so tiny

even while my sister watched him around the clock

making sure he was still nursing

~

and

then my sister called on wednesday and said things weren't looking so good

and

16 days after he was born

ocho

died

~

with a litter of eight kittens

this was to be expected

but

it was still sad

~~~~~

so now

there are only seven kittens squealing away

in my sister's garage

~

but

they are vibrant and healthy

and

growing like weeds

~

3 boys and 4 girls

and

they are truly a blessing

*