sob sob sob / new kittens

Well, I went to the shelter today, and there was almost no one there, and those that were there were only interested in dogs :( Two kittens went home, but none of mine. So they are still there.. probably not having a clue what is going on. Hopefully, people will come along tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

I took some more photos of them yesterday, but this one I had to share.



I also took home new kittens today. They have a mother. She is obnoxiously vocal. Has something to say about EVERYTHING. The kittens are probably 2.5 to 3 weeks of age. Uber cute. All wobbly on their legs. I can tell the little tiger one is going to be a world of trouble. One boy (gray) and three girls. The mom's name is Whitney I think.. Think I'm going to rename her Gabby!

Wish them luck!

Well.. its almost Saturday already. The threesome will be going back tomorrow for adoption. I hope Tanya's parents come and get her tomorrow, cause if they don't (whoever they are) I don't know if I'll be able to leave her there.. Afraid it would kill her. *crosses fingers*

they have a new set picked out for me already. Should be fun.

I'm also ordering a new cage. I was keeping moms w/ kittens in my old rabbit cage, and orphan kittens in a ferret cage. Although both are quite rusty. So I've been toying with the idea for a while, and the cage I'm thinking of is on sale.. so it looks like it is time.. that and the bottom of the ferret cage is so rusty it's disappearing.

The day after surgery

Well, Tannie is coming around. She seems more interested in me when I go in there. I'm so glad I'm going to be there for her adoption.. she's so going to need that special home.. hopefully, there will be someone there willing to deal with her hissing. What was really interesting is that last night both my husband and I had a dream where we kept Hershey. How many times do I have to tell that kitten he can't stay?!?!

I went to the shelter annual meeting. It was very interesting. The interim shelter manager was announced to be the new shelter manager. I've been very impressed with him.. he's only 27 years old, and he looks 16, but he's very articulate and works well with in the system.

They also talked about how they are so dependant on donations.. 65% of their operating budget comes from donations from the community. They also mentioned how high the vet bills were for last year. It was staggering when you realize that it was all done at cost.

Currently the shelter has 170 cats in its care (90 are in foster care) Staggering isn't it?

Snip snip

Well, yesterday was the day. One of our surgeons had a family emergency, so I couldn't bring them in later on in the week like I was hoping, so I packed them all up on my lunch hour and brought them down to see if Hannah was big enough, and she was..2.6!! yea!! So they were neutered. I brought them home and put them in the room with some food and water, and went out shopping. Came home, and Hershey was SCREAMING for attention. I went in to make sure he was ok, and he settled down a bit, but when I left he started screaming again.. We went to bed, and he was howling.. it was pathetic. It was totally breaking my heart.. so I grabbed a couple of blankets and went back in and tried to sleep on the love seat. It wasn't fun. Hershey and Hannah both appreciated I was there, but Tanya... well she was ticked off to say the least. I'm glad I've decided to keep them for the rest of the week before adopting them out on Saturday.. hopefully, this will allow her some time to relax a little before finding her a new home. I just hope I can do it sooner rather than later, cause if I have to leave her there, no one is going to be able to get her out of the cage. Well okay.. the staff will, cause they will know she's all talk, but still, I worry about her.

No Hershey.. I can't have six kitties

I think Hershey has adopted us. He seems to really want to be here. Today I was cleaning up the room, and he kept hugging my leg, and when I left to get them some water, he wanted to come with me. I did my best to herd him out of the way, but he still escaped. He ran right past muffin who was "standing guard" at the door, and headed for the bedroom. Muffin was still staring at the door like she didn't see him. I was able to grab him before he got into the bedroom, thankfully.. but it was cute.

(update 20016 - yes, I too laugh at that title)

poke poke poke, quick like bunny

The shots went very well. Guess they were too hungry to realize what was going on. It was a little freaky to feel the vaccine under the skin after I gave it, but they didn't notice it at all.

I weighed Hannah this afternoon, and it looks like she just might be 2.5 lbs. I think I'll check the schedule and see what's on the surgery list for Friday..

Can't believe they might actually be leaving soon. They were just starting to warm up to me, and I to them.

awww

It's time for their distemper booster. I'm not looking forward to giving it. Here's hoping they don't notice it too much.

bath time

I was cuddling with Emmy, and I could smell old stale urine. I was afraid she had peed under the bed, as I had smelled it in there before.. but then I got closer and realized SHE smelled bad. I had been saying for months she needed a bath.. so today she got one.. and she was NOT happy about it. She's in the living room licking herself dry. Eli and Jack are quite stunned by the turn of events, and almost seem afraid to get near her, lest they get wet too.

The kittens seem to be coming around. Nutrical is a good thing. I fed them science diet kitten the other day, and they completely turned their nose up at it. Why is it that the "experts" in cats (Science Diet & Iams) can't make an edible kitten food?!?!?

awww

I went in to feed the nongrowing three, and all three were sitting at the top of the cage.. when I opened it up to pat them, Tanya didn't run away!! yea!! There is hope for her yet.

Now if I can just get Hannah to eat something. Ok.. well only if I can get Hannah to eat a little more. She is STILL only 2 lbs.. it doesn't seem possible. I have to wonder if there is something wrong with her.. but she's active and friendly, and not vomiting.. so *shrug* I guess I'm going to have to stop by the shelter and get some nutrical.. Hopefully, that will help.

watch out.. lamp running by

I left the kittens out in the kitten room today for some exercise.. and there had been some very loud noises coming from there. Loose kittens are kittens getting in trouble. Well, one particularly loud noise, and I went to investigate. Seems they knocked a lamp off the table. No biggie.. nothing broken, nothing damaged... so I left it on the floor. Well about 10 minutes later I open the door to feed them, and the lamp is running to the other side of the room. Okay.. officially it was being dragged. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they would have interest in playing with the lamp until upon closer investigation I find that a fuzzy mouse with a string is wrapped around it. The 2lb kitten dragged a table lamp across the room.. it was a riot. I had to share.

Caring for 8 on my own

Hubby has gone out of town to go to a concert w/ his brother. I don't realize how much I take for granted that he does when he goes away.. Actually, that's not really true. I'm really aware of what he does for me and I do appreciate it. he is the one that normally feeds the resident five.. and gives Emmy her insulin. I couldn't for the life of me remember what we are giving her for units of insulin. I 95% certain it's 6 units. the 5% is really that annoying lingering doubt of not having done something in a really long time. *shrug* oh well. At least he'll be home on Saturday..

The fosters are doing well. I've started them on another round of nemex to deworm them again.. hoping that is the reason they aren't eating well. *crosses fingers* I had another group in the past that wasn't eating well, and I took them to work to be looked at, and wouldn't you know they were eating, so the vet said they were fine.. But they still weren't eating well at all, so I had the hubby take them to a different vet, they dewormed them again, and poof, they started eating like piggies... sooo.. if past experience has taught me anything, it's to try the obvious before looking for the obscure. and of course, there is the old adage.. when in doubt - deworm!

Kittens...

So.. I help organize the kitten shower, help produce it, help work it, see the wonderful results it produces.. but yet when I call up the shelter and ask them to send over kitten food for the kittens I have, I get .. cat food. *rolls eyes* Well that's okay.. maybe they'll actually eat this stuff. They are refusing to eat and put on any weight. I sent for more dewormer too.. hoping that is the problem. *crosses fingers* These kittens need to go back so I can get some friendly, cuddle in your face, lick your fingers kittens. It's hard when the kittens have no use for you... well that's not completely true.. I'm the big huge human that comes and puts the food that they hardly eat in front of them. I was laying down on the floor in there in an attempt to be less threatening. I got one of them to chew on my foot. lol. Oh, the things that are big achievements when you foster kittens.. beautiful poop and a chewed on foot.

I miss the days of being covered in kittens.

Kitten Chow it is

Well I brought home a box of kitten chow, and that was the end of any interacting with the kittens. They were chowing away on it alright :)

I can also tell they are getting to be about ready to go back. I was saying the other day how good they were when left to roam in the bathroom they are now in.. well yesterday I noticed they took all the toilet paper off the roll, they knocked over a basket of stuff, and they even started attacking the rubber duckie..

Food issues

I'm getting perplexed. I have three 2 lb kittens.. they should be eating up a storm, but they really aren't. Combined, they won't eat the 5 oz of food I give them.. it's more like 3 or 4. (I feed them twice a day.. so they are probably getting 2-3 oz a food a day.. ) Not nearly enough for growing kittens. Last night I had given them the fish food they scoffed while they were at the clinic. Hannah took two bites and started covering it up and walked away. And the food from that morning was still half eaten. I was starting to consider deworming them again.. but I saw a jar of veal baby food, and decided to try that. Well, that was a HUGE hit. Even got Tanya to lick it off my fingers.

So I'm going to head over to the shelter today and see if I can pick up something that might be more to their liking.

I'm going to pump,*clap* them up!

Say hello to Hershey and Hannah!

The kitten shower was a lot of fun. I rushed over to it after work, absolutely starving. There was a ton of good food and I ate way too much. We got a pretty good showing of people. I was surprised there weren't more people there who wanted to talk about kittens, but oh well, you can't have everything. We got over 2000 lbs of donations.. Mostly in litter and dry food, but that is nothing to complain about. We even had one girl scout troop donate their cookie money to make a donation of 478 lbs of stuff. We were so impressed with them. We were glad they ended up winning a trip to the local radio station. Liz from the radio was a very good host. I was impressed with her. I was afraid I wasn't going to be, but she was very warm and open and when I walked up to a group of people she was talking with she stood back to make room for me in the group.

We only got 28 names in the name the kitten game, but that is $28 we didn't have before.. so again, I'm not going to complain, and I think the kitties got some cute names out of it... was a completely random drawing as well :)

Yes.. I was hoping for more.. but I have to remember it was mother's day weekend (let's hope we don't make that mistake again) and there were a number of off-site locations to make donations and another shower at the children's museum in Portland.. So I am happy with how it went.

on a side note.. it has been a year since the first birth of kittens at my home.. the group with Ms. Piggy, Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, and the famous Peanut. I have gotten the most amazing picture of Peanut aka Treads. I am most thankful that his new (and Gonzo aka Miles) parents keep in touch with me.

This should be fun!

Tomorrow morning, the kittens are going to be live on the radio.. yes.. I too wondered how well kittens would translate to radio.. but they do have an adorable squeak, so hopefully it will go well. I think they are going more for the "gush factor" getting the hosts to gush all over the kittens. They are going to promote the kitten shower on WMGX 93.1. I actually have the morning off, so I'm going to take the kittens myself.. so there is a slim chance I'll be on the radio. I'll bring the cam and take pictures.

Silly Kittens!

Ok.. how many times have I used that title?? But this story is a doozie. I put my computer in the room with the kittens, so they can spend some more time out of the cage, and because this is where I'm going to put the computer once the kitten room is created. Anyway.. they are running around being silly, then all of a sudden one of them starts crying as if stuck. It was coming from the closet, so I peeked in to find out what was going on.. I'm looking all over the floor and couldn't find him.. so I start to fear that he climbed up inside the few dresses hanging in the closet, figuring it could take a while to actually find him hanging either in or out of one of the dresses.. well come to find out he made it all the way up to the hangers.. and couldn't figure out how to get down..

now say it with me... silly kittens!!

Pictures

And then for the picture of muffin trying to give me a heart attack

More news on the home front

Ok.. so my kitties want to give me a heart attack to see what would happen if I had one. First Muffin the other day, and today it was Emmy. I have put her on the herbs for her diabetes, and I had been wanting to get her in to the clinic for a glucose curve to see what her sugars are. As you long time readers know Emmy has had a hard time getting her sugars under control. A good BG (blood glucose) is 60 to 120ish. Hers have always been in the +300's.

So anyway.. this morning she was laying on the bed, almost unresponsive to my calling her. The first couple of times she looked at me but didn't pick up her head then she even stopped opening her eyes to look at me. I picked her up and cradled her, something she hates, and she just let me... which freaked me out even more. Well after a moment she started "perking" up and started complaining - she hated it when I put her in the carrier... but alas, off we went. They were swamped at work, so I didn't get the first BG reading till about an hour later. and didn't I almost fall down when they said her BG was 140!!! They then did another one around 11:30, and her BG was 205. It should go down instead of up.. and the reason it went up was because she was so amazingly stressed by being there with all the chaos... even so 205 was an amazing result.. I want to hand out party hats and have have a winding of a party. Now granted, her sugars are still high, but with a bit more insulin, and a few more weeks of herbs, hopefully we'll get it back to a normal level.

I can only assume that someone kept Emmy up late last night, and she was just sleeping this morning. It was very unusual for her.. but she was her same ol self once I got her home. I'm going to bring Eli back in to see the holistic vet for more laser treatment on his eyes.. they have gotten bad again.. and he's not liking my cleaning off his face when they goop up. A few weeks of that and he should be back to himself.

The kittens are growing like weeds. They are kinda cute. I love the way they prance and dive through the tunnel I got for them. They really aren't "stand out" kittens though. They also still aren't very people friendly. Well, most people would think they are.. except Tanya.. who still hisses at you when you reach out to pat or pick her up.. but I know what real overly friendly kittens are like. Maybe I'll be lucky with the next batch.

We have our old house under contract. This makes me feel more comfortable about spending money, so in the next month or so we will put up the wall to the kitten room downstairs. I can't wait. Its going to be a kitten palace :) Need to buy flooring, a door, and lumber for a wall... and a window seat, and some shelving.. maybe a nice post for the kittens to climb.. can't wait - did I say that already?

more sad news

last week Tobin - one of my little orange fosters that included Ennui and Anika - came in because he wasn't his happy go horrid self. (apparently he was a major spitfire) He had a fever of 104. They admitted him and did tests on him, and after a few days in the hospital, they came to the decision that he was too ill to continue to live, so they put him down. The "fip test" came back with high titers. For any of you who know anything about FIP, or know anything about my opinion of this "test" you'll know I'm not a big fan of it. But he had stopped eating and was in very poor health.. I do not condone the decision to euthanize him, I do understand it.

Needless to say I'm not in a good place emotionally right now. I'm still in major transition on the house front, work is still not what it should be, and now this. Not to mention the little kitten I currently have that won't not hiss at me when I go to pick her up. Her sister and brother trust me, but she's not a big fan of being picked up. She doesn't have much of a problem with being held.. just the big scary hand coming at her isn't her favorite thing in life. *big sigh* Oh well.

The shelter is having a Kitten Shower on May 8th. You are all invited to attend, but I know most of you can't. Feel free to send them money *big cheezy grin* Tell them you heard about it here..