Pounds, Kilos, Ounces and Grams, Oh My!

Last Friday Sparkles weighed in at urgent care at 7.8 oz (ounces), reflected on her chart as 0.49 lbs (pounds). The second tech who took over because she recognized Sparkles and I, repeated the weight in favor of a metric solution (all the meds are calculated by metric weight) and found 221 grams.
Today we returned for a check-up and all is progressing nicely. We even have hope that the yucky eye is healing as Sparkles gains strength. There is talk of including a little canned food in the menu for Ms. Kitten.
The assistant today weighed Sparkles and noted 422 grams. We have a lot more kitty on our hands than we did before; almost double in less than a week. We are witnessing this phenomenon developing daily before our eyes. There will be more photos soon, I promise.
The specialist Kitty Vet with whom we had scrupulously made our appointment today came in and treated Sparkles' eye, for which I am grateful. She answered my questions but asked enough of her own that I knew she had not even glanced at our chart. Sparkles has been seen at this clinic four times in the last ten days. Two of those visits were near-death experiences. I would think that her chart might be of interest!
Finally, when I asked what Sparkles had weighed last time, our illustrious doctor flicked on the exam room computer, which is there for that reason, and told me that Sparkles had actually lost weight. According to the notes, as read by our doctor, she had previously clocked  490 grams.
I excused myself for arguing the point with her and respectfully pointed out that the chart said 0.49 lbs. She said that was not possible as they worked in grams and kilos. The irrefutable print out and my prove-you-right or prove-you-wrong calculations with my trusty, never leave home without it calculator did nothing to sway her convictions of infallibility.
The outcome was not life-threatening, but it sure as heck could have been. I won't be going out of my way to visit this "Specialist" again!

The odds are against us

Sparkler is a ten day old, female kitten with an upper respiratory infection. She was found in a dry-grass area between some houses and some shops. The kids who found her brought her home to their Mum, whilst I was visiting, and we tried to find a solution together.
Animal Control and The Humane Society said that if we brought her in she would be euthanized as they don't have the resources to bottle feed a baby every few hours. The No-Kill animal shelters and organizations are overwhelmed, full to the brim, and the specialized kitten fostering and placement people can't take her in case she gives her sniffles to all the others.
My friend's children had quickly lost interest and she couldn't face the added burden of sleepless nights. My budget can't stretch to vet care for random foundlings.
J. took the kitten to the emergency vet for hydration, antibiotics and advice and then dropped her off with me in the hopes we can get her through the next ten days, at which time she has a reservation with a cat-wrangling professional who will launch her on her way to a loving forever home.
There is a cardboard box next to our bed with a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel and a sheepskin remnant to emulate Sparkler's absent family. Sparkler (a name related to the July holiday celebrations of her birth month and, hopefully, a good omen for her personality-to-be) has crusty eyes,  which I have been bathing clean and to which I have been applying ointment. Her poor nose is blocked which makes it hard for her to eat and sleep. She has not been participating voluntarily in the bottle feeding process. I woke her up twice during the night to feed but you could measure her intake in dew drops.
I hoped that the fluids she got from the vet would pull her through the night but I was still happily surprised to see her continued breathing as dawn broke this morning.
We've made it through the day so far. Our biggest achievement was having her latch onto the nipple for a few gulps of her milk. I have dosed her with her antibiotics again this evening and am putting my faith in their healing power. To be continued...