Feeding and Cleaning!

I think some of the cutest moments I have observed with Buster were (and still are) watching him drinking from his bottle, cleaning himself, yawning and stretching.. all of the things that make you go 'awwwwhhh' :-)

These pictures are taken during his morning feeds when he has his bottle (let me add he goes at it like there's no tomorrow!!) and afterwards when cleaning himself (something he does pretty much all the time but especially after a feed, or if his fur is wet either because the grass outside in the garden was wet or because I wiped away the milk from his chin after a feed).
His cleaning routine consists of cleaning his ears and face (he sits up like a squirrel then wets his front paws with his tongue and cleans his face and ears) then he cleans his neck and chest, then his legs and paws.. it's interesting how he doesn't just clean but he also brushes his fur using his nails!

This is Buster in the mornings:



Buster likes to hold his bottle!






Nice and full, Buster is offered a kernel of grass - he loves nibbling hay after his bottle!


Now the cleaning begins!





Don't forget your feet!

Buster is 1 month old!

Well.. Buster has now been with us for 4 weeks!
He's now down to just one bottle of milk a day, in the mornings.
I let him wonder around the house during the day when we're at work.. then I come home at lunch time and in the evenings and we leave him outside for as long as we can.. guarded always from cats and magpies.

He's really active in the evenings when he's outside, he sprints from one side to the other of the garden, runs in a zig-zag pattern, jumps up in the air and so on.. he seems fairly content. Then around 10 o'clock at night it's bed time, he sits on my lap or belly and falls asleep!

Buster's bed time:




Buster wondering around the garden..

Buster is 3 weeks old!

Buster has now been with us for 3 weeks!

This is a chart of this progress for last week, week 2:


The chest infection has now completely gone away and there's no noise coming in from his chest or nose - thankfully! We were so worried!

Today Buster weights an healthy 220gr!!

Also his diet is slowly changing..
Buster eats fresh grass from the garden (whatever he finds.. clovers, dandellion, rose and lillies leaves, etc) hay, oat flakes.
He's still drinking milk from his bottle but he only takes 2 bottles a day whilst before he used to take 4.
We changed his routine because he would drink his first two bottles (morning and lunch) and then he refused the following two (evening and night) - so he now drinks morning and evening.

He's very eager with his bottle, he sits up on his hind legs, puts the entire teat into his mouth (he's enough strength to pull the bottle away from my hands!) and then he lifts his front paws and puts them on the bottle!!

He loves his fresh grass outside in the garden, he chews on pretty much everything he finds! Some days he'd rather nibble at my jeans than any greens!

We also got him some 'treats' in the pet shop, like carrot pellets, mint and dandelion sticks and so forth for him to chew on when he's a good boy!

Some more pictures of Buster..

Buster sniffing.. "do I smell fresh grass?"


Buster washes his face before a meal..


"hmmm.. decisions decisions.."


"hello there!"


Buster certainly isn't camera-shy!

Buster had a chest infection! :-(

Some more updates on Buster..

We got a fright last week when Buster developed a chest infection. We were afraid he had inhaled some milk while drinking from his bottle (this can cause aspiration pneumonia and can be fatal) as he was making noises from his nose when breathing and there was a rumbling noise coming in from his chest. We brought him to the vet who listened to his chest and agreed there were fluids in his lungs and gave him an injection of antibiotics and put him on a 7-day oral antibiotic course.

Thankfully the infection has slowly gone away.. today his chest feels clear - he'll be on antibiotics one more day.

We were so worried!

Apart from this episode, he's doing really well!

He now weights 136gr (he's nearly 3 times bigger than he was when we got him) he loves his bottle.. we started giving him some Milupa oat (porridge) integrated to his milk, some probiotics to help his flora during the antiobiotic course. Also he loves hay and constantly nibbles at it.

We try to leave him in the garden for as long as we can (always guarded from cats and birds) and he loves nibbling at fresh grass.

He's growing so fast.. it's unbelievable.. here are some more pictures... :-)


Buster:"Where's my dinner?"

He loves spending time out in the garden and he's getting faster and faster by the minute!
The first day we had him, he could not sit on the grass without stumbling on it!
Now he leaps across our garden - it's delightful to watch him!


And no, the grass is not long. Buster is very small!

Ok, maybe a little bit long (it's better for Buster)



Ahh.. nothing like a good stretch and a snooze after lunch!


Buster: "Phew, 23 degrees in Dublin, who'd have thought?"