Former Foster Friday - Belle

At the end of last month, I had completely had it with my kittyblog email.  It is getting so much spam that I was near the end of my rope and was about to delete it when an email came in from Lynn.

Three years ago Lynn adopted one of my fosters "Anubis" a very sweet little black and white kitten who I could not get a good photo of because she constantly wanted to be up under my chin.

When Lynn adopted Anubis, she renamed her Belle.

and Belle went to live with Lynn and Princess

Lynn's email was very kind and much needed as I was facing returning Wryn and Sprite:

Wanted to give you an update on Little Belle. You knew her as Anubis (you called her Newie). She is about 3 years old now. She black with a white tummy, socks and a lighting bolt down the side of her nose. LOVED to cuddle and snuggle and needed a thousand kisses a day.

Still have her picture of you and her. Look at it often.

She has grown into her ears. Still a small cat. A pretty girl and still very sweet. Still loves to snuggle. We have time in front of the wood stove snuggling and rocking. Sleeps next to me most nights. Sometimes between the two of. She is a good mouse hunter and likes to eat what she catches. Yuk. Good at getting birds also. Eats them too. Loves to climb trees. She goes quite high and so far always gets down. Thank goodness. Doesn't eat as many dust bunnies as she used to. Likes me to watch her eat her dry food. And has to eat her wet food at the same time and right next to us. (Need to watch her cause Princess will eat her food.) Belle likes to attack Princess. Princess is not crazy about it, but can still take Belle down. (Princess is part coon and about 8 years old. Mostly tolerates Belle. And yet they will sleep next to each other.). They play chase through the house. Sounds like a herd of elephants. She will attack the toilet paper when in one of her wild moods. Fun to watch.

Little Belle is such a joy and I am lucky to have her pick me. Thank you for taking care of her when she needed someone. You did a wonderful thing for her. Thank you again. Lynn

Apparently she is still a neck snuggler.. that so made me smile to hear. It is so nice to see her doing so well, and it was so very kind of Lynn to send me these photos, just when I really needed it.   Guess this means I will just have to deal with the spam.. I would hate to think any of the other hundreds of kitties out there not being able to reach me if I delete it.

Former Foster Friday - Anubis

The kitten formerly known as Anubis.. 

I got an email yesterday:

Anubis has been changed to little belle. We found that Anubis is an Egyptian God that has the body of a man and the head of a jackel. Now she is the pretty girl of the ball (French). Belle is doing great. Eating very well. Like a little piggy. Can not see her spine or hip bones any more. Still slim though. Loves to cuddle still. Sleeps with us with us every night. A sweet girl but can be a wild little thing at times. We say that she won the lottery. Belle met the chickens and climbed her first tree last week. She gets along well with our other cat princess. Does not back down much from princess. Loves the fire but would rather sit on our lap. Likes to watch tv. A very clean little girl. She is a sweet girl and we are glad to have her in our lives. She is growing and learning every day.

I replied thanking her for the update (and asked for pictures), and in conversation she also told me that Belle was sleeping in front of the fire, and how she was a little unsure of her 14 month old grandson (oh how that made me smile) and that she likes to play with ping pong balls and laser beams. She also has much more energy than Princess who is an 8 yr old Maine Coon/Manx - which I can so just picture her with Princess.

It totally made my day.

Wishing you and Belle and Princess a long and happy life together.




I still think she should have been called Velcro

Goodbye... Hello

I got word on Thursday that I could bring the kittens back any time.  I almost brought them back Thursday night to prevent having to get up early on Friday, but I just couldn't do it. I needed one more night with them, and they were perfect.  They were cute and cuddly, but not nearly as cuddly as they had been.  It felt like they were ready to move on even if I wasn't ready to let them go.

It is silly, because several members of The Crew are super snuggly, so it isn't like I am snuggle deficient or anything..  I guess when it comes to kitties, you can never have enough snuggles..

It was made a little harder on me because the shelter has a few events this weekend that they wanted to bring a kitten or two to.  They kept asking me to pick one or two.. how hard is that.. to prevent them from the opportunity to go home with their siblings.. I wanted them to take them all!!  Keep them together.. *sigh*  but knowing that no one is going to adopt all five of them, I ended up picking Anubis and Clyve - so they are going to the museum and then to the home show while Shortcake, Victor and Owen will stay at the shelter to be adopted.  Anubis and Clyve will join them on Sunday afternoon.  None of them can go home this weekend since they aren't neutered.  They will be adopted and then neutered on Monday and then go home.

On Thursday I was also told that they had another kitty who needed some help.  10 year old owner surrender who has bad teeth, but she wasn't eating at the shelter so she needs a week to de-stress and get on the Connie Plan of Weight Gain.. She is on antibiotics and fluids twice a day - well the fluids are until she she starts eating well.  Her name is Lucy.  I have no idea what I was expecting, but I was a little surprised when I saw this

Is this going to be a black and white year?? :) She is really sweet, quite talkative, and she hasn't met a door she hasn't wanted to walk through.  I brought her to work for a short time and she walked around and around and tried to get through ALL of the doors many times.  One is glass that goes out into the hall and at one point a mother and child walked by.  Lucy took one look at the child and quickly turned and walked away.  The child took one look at Lucy and she almost couldn't be pulled away from the window, it was really cute.

She was also quite matted.  I took her back to the shelter instead of heading home to get the mats shaved off.  They took off some, but not all, and she so doesn't want me to comb them out, so I'll have to make note for the vet who does her dental.

Speaking of her dental, oh my goodness. Her poor teeth.. well I think she has teeth under all that tartar... there is so much of it that it looks like she is wearing a retainer

She ate one treat out of three while at work.  She ate a quarter of a can of fancy feast (some fishy smelling food) she turned down the raw and the dry food offered.

She is fluffy, she is sweet, but she is bone-y and has many small mats all over her belly.. and for some reason I keep calling her LucyLu..

Thankful Thursday - Love Edition

Happy Valentines Day everyone.  For me a Valentine's day isn't filled with hearts and flowers.. as the kitties eat the first and knock over the second.. but I do make it a point to remind those around me that they are important to me.  although that is something I do my best to do that anyway - but it never does hurt to have an outside reminder to do it :)  So let me take a moment and thank you my dear dear reader, thank you for stopping by and spending a part of your day with me and the kitties..

The kittens are doing so well that they aren't snuggling with me as much.  Where as before it was scream scream scream, eat eat eat, groom, beg for kisses and cuddles, then play, now it is scream, play, scream eat, play eat, scream, groom, kiss, play, eat.. etc.  Yup, they are so ready to find their homes.. and while I don't want them to go, it is a little easier now that they aren't demanding so much attention.  it is so much easier to walk way from a kitten that is off having a great time with out you than one that is curled up in your neck licking your chin.

I don't think Victor likes this next paragraph.. 

So I sent an email in and we are just biding our time.. which is probably good because I'm running low on food..

Anubis finally found the joy of feet.. I'm both glad and annoyed by this.  Glad because she is doing something other than sitting on my chest licking my chin which will make it a little easier to let her go, and annoyed because..

OUCH!

Wordless Wednesday

Yup, it was Victor's toe yesterday.. 

Toesday with... ???

Who's foot is this??
(I'll share a photo of the owner of this foot tomorrow)

The kittens are doing amazingly well.  They have hit their stride.. you know that point where there is more coming out of the litter box than you feed them in a day.. and when their bellies are bigger than their heads.. They are so incredibly food motivated it is starting to become funny because they eat like piggies, then run up to me and flomp down for their kisses, but they eat so fast that you can hear them burp when lay down.

Their fur is also becoming soft.  When they showed up looking like little more than skeletons their fur felt a lot like those horse hair shoes and not the good ones, but the ones at the discount stores.  They are starting to become soft and sleek..

and I am working on preparing for them to go back.  Part of me hopes that Victor breaks out in snots again.. but I know that isn't fair to them. They have been waiting so patiently to sleep in a bed of their own..

teach me to count my chickens

I was so excited last night when Victor seemed to have gotten over his cold.  He was doing so well, just a random sneeze from time to time - hence the post this morning, but when I went down to see him to give them breakfast I found him snotty and green goop piled in the corner of his eyes.

So I've got them a little while longer.. how will I cope?? *wink*

although we do have that major storm headed our way and with the wind there is a darn good chance we are going to be with out power for a day or so.  *knock wood that it isn't any longer than that*

Thankful Thursday

Well it looks like the Fab Five's stay at Casa de Gato is coming to an end.  They have maintained their health for several days.  Victor stopped being covered with snot on Sunday.  I had brewed a slightly stronger batch of goldenseal and gave that and he got one dose of amoxi (antibiotic) and poof he was better.  He had a cough for a day or so after... he had some pretty frightening post nasal drip going on as it literally sounded like someone was concurrently strangling him and pulling out his tongue.  First time I heard it I nearly fell off the couch trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with him and he was sitting on me at the time.  Shortcake got a little snotty there for a bit but she  is doing much better now too.  I can tell they are getting ready as they have been spending progressively more time not sitting on me when I come to visit.  This is a good thing, but it is also a little sad.  Five kittens sitting on you looking for love and attention is overwhelming but it is also really really cool.  (how overwhelming can it be really?? I mean I constantly have three to five of The Crew on me)  but it also means pictures..

Wordless Wednesday

Anubis in her favorite spot eva
(although why is she not getting kisses?)

Toesday with Shortcake - Ankle Whisker edition

Shortcake is one really remarkable looking kitten.  She has that round apple head that so many people love. Her fur is so very very soft and it almost has a brownish hue to it when she is in the sun.  Not to mention that she is almost cartoonishly round in body.  It is a very stark contrast to The Fab Four, but even with out the comparison so close at hand she still feels like she was one of those bubbly cartoon kittens come to life.

But the best feature is her elegant ankle whiskers.  Unfortunately I couldn't get a photo that does them justice as Shortcake isn't a fan of the Pawpurrazi.  They generally extend out from her paw and sweep down towards the ground.

While trying to get a good photo of them, I was able to capture some of her unique white spots.  She has the normal locket of white fur on her chest, but she also has white armpits and ear tufts

not to mention the cutest bikini bottom...

I iz so embarrassed.. I go now?

Monday Morning..

That lady was running late again this morning (BIG SURPRISE!) and she left me to blog.. ha ha ha.. I'm gonna spill all kindsa secrets.. like she only feeds us 10 cans of food, and we rarely get the good stuff, and she only gives us 500 kisses.. we so deprived.. help us!!

Not to mention she's been shoving stuff down our faces that we HATE.. *blech*  first it was that yellow stuff that made my insides feel a little wobbly (OK fine, they felt way better afterwards) and then she brought in this stuff that smelled like grass and insisted in putting it in our eyes... AND NOSE!!  *sneeze*  and now my poor brother has to take that bubblegum smelling liquid (at least she doesn't put that up his nose!!)

What?? oh yea.. 

OK, fine, we aren't as sneezy as we were, and my brother isn't spewing snot all over me any more.. but did I mention we only got 500 kisses!  and she didn't bother to pull our ping pong balls out of the corner of invisibility.. and we only got 10 cans of food.. we are hungry..  Come save us!!

Antibiotics started

Well I was so hoping to avoid this, but after a few days of snot covered kittens I couldn't deal with it any more.

The kittens started sneezing a few days ago and they got goopy eyes, so I started giving them colloidal silver and it helped some but not others.  I have been reading up on the benefits of silver with golden seal.  I got some golden seal root and leaves at my local health store, but the clerk that asked me about why I was buying them freaked me out when she said that it was "very strong".  But I owned it, and I had a lot of people recommending it, so I brewed a very mild tea and tried it out myself (didn't sting when I put it in my eye, but it felt a little bit drier for some time afterwards)   I diluted it down again, and gave some both by dropper (eye and nose) and on the food.  A few days later most of the kittens were doing much much better, but Victor was still snotty.  He is active and eating - but not as much as he should be - and sneezy. The Fab Four are cuddlers, so they all have spots of snot on them where Victor is either wiping his nose on them (can't you just picture that??) or sneezing while he is cuddled to them.

So I guess he's just a little too far behind the eight ball to fight this off on his own with just herbal/alternative help.. Just need to get him back on the right road, which I'm sure he's actually on at the moment.

I don't mind, I'm loving the extra cuddles.

Toesday

The Fab Four are NOT photogenic

Actually, I can't really say that.  When I can get them in front of a lens and not kissing the lens, they do take rather nice photos.  Unfortunately getting them that far away from me has been near impossible.  These kittens are not mere lap cats, they are chest kitties and shoulder kitties.. pretty much they want their heads with in smooching distance of your lips when ever possible.

It is cute, but it can be a little overwhelming.  I went down to the kitten room this weekend to spend some time with them.  I was not feeling well and thought I'd take a little nap.. yeah, that wasn't a good idea.  The four of them piled up as close to my mouth as they could.  Even Shortcake was sitting on my shoulder... (they are rubbing off on her which is nice) well only problem was a good part of the time they were blocking what little airway I actually had available to me.. I could only think of "Death by Purr"..   Both Anubis and Victor are smooch-addicted.  They both reach up and pat my face and present their heads for kisses.. Victor  has much better manners about the whole thing.  If you aren't kissing Anubis to her liking she'll nibble you.  At least we are down to nibble and not out and out biting.  Owen is the third most interested in getting smooched, then Clyve, who is often found off playing with Shortcake.  

Shortcake has voluntarily climbed up on my lap and now lets me pat her.    I really preferred to call her Lani, but she was looking to get into mischief and I called out to her and she responded to Shortcake, so Shortcake it is.. 

Victor

Victor

Clyve - being "naughty".
He got up on top of the cage all on his own and was sitting in the carrier because he could.

The Great Escape and the Wicked Witch

Since the kittens are eating raw to help them fatten up, I have to bring it downstairs to them from the kitchen. Last night I went down to the kitten room with the plate of raw food and a stack of clean dishes - since I am still trying to get them to eat canned.  The kittens tend to sit on the edge of the futon waiting for me to open the door, but I have been able to get in with out too much of an issue - until last night.

This time all of them decided they were making a break for it, and kitten after kitten issued as if someone had given a "CHARGE" command.  I tried shutting the door only to catch a kitten in the midsection (I was hoping he would back up so I didn't shut it with any strength, just enough to hold him there) I put the dishes down - afraid to leave the raw food unattended for fear it would attract a member of The Crew.  I leaned down and grabbed the kitten stuck in the door and attempted to get him back in the room but by doing so several others saw their chance to escape.  Frustrated and missing the requisite 4 hands to do this job properly, I ended up gently tossing kittens and being completely overwhelmed (think "the running of the brides") till I was able to shut the door.

I turned around to find Owen half way across the room all proud of his accomplishment.  I looked around and didn't see anyone else.  I scooped up Owen and offered him a tour of the house that he fought so hard to see.

Since I had called to my husband for help (and he couldn't help as he was in the middle of cooking on the stove top) I took Owen upstairs to tell him that I thought I had it under control  (who knows, maybe another kitten had found a hiding spot??)   Owen was so fascinated and happy and proud.  He looked around totally enjoying his sight seeing - that is until I got near my husband who was stir-frying.  Owen took one look at the stove and heard one sizzle and he completely freaks out.

I tried to calm him down, but he was trying so hard to get away from the situation that it was getting a little dangerous.  I was probably five to ten feet away from the stove, so I wasn't afraid of him getting into anything harmful, but scrambling and falling out of my arms and then running into a member of the crew.. (well OK dangerous is probably too strong of a word to use).  So I backed slowly away, turned away, all the while talking softly to him, telling him the stove was of no danger to him, but how I could understand how he might be frightened with all this talk of me trying to fatten him up and them bringing him to a stove...  

Oh Basket, My Basket

Oh perfect Basket, how do I love the, let me count the ways..

I can sit in you, I look good in you

I can play with my toys in you..

You are so defensible..  I shall protect you from intruders and  I shall love you forever..
~Shortcake

We don't even want your silly basket, we have this uber cool box!!
 ~Victor & Owen

Introducing..

This is the "addition" to the Fab Four.  She is not used to siblings, nor people.  She doesn't really hate either, but she totally doesn't know what to do with either.  Last night I got her to purr while I was patting her, but while purring she was still slinking away from my hand and moving away.  It was so bizarre  it was totally a "I want to get away" gesture while purring for the first time.  She often has a very sweet smell to her.  One time she smelled a bit like gum drops, another a bit like chocolate... which is a little disconcerting   A sweet smell coming off a cat often means there is a medical problem, but she is healthy and robust, eating well, doing well outside of an occasional sneeze.  I'm thinking about calling her Shortcake (after the Strawberry Shortcake toys of the 80s that smelled sweet) or Lani.. (pronounced la - nye)   She's just so unsure of things, she hasn't accepted a name yet.

This is the only longer haired kitty of the group.  He is also very robust, very healthy all be it pretty darn thin. It is harder to tell on him because he has fluffy to hide behind, but you get your hands on him and you realize there is little more to him than fluff and bones.   He was the first to engage Shortcake in anything more than a hiss contest.  I've decided to call him Clive.  (Clyve?)

Another boy.. this one is short haired.  I started off calling him Vlad, and it worked very well with him for a while, but then for some reason I started calling him Victor.  He seems to be more of a goof than the name Vlad would suggest, so I am 99% sure he is going to be Victor.  He is everywhere, very playful, very friendly, feels the need for lots of kisses and pats, but he has no problem going off on his own - or with his siblings - to play.

This little boy was Elvis for a while.  Then he was Lyle. Neither name stuck.  I ended up calling him Owen, and that one I like and he seems to like too.  I'm sure you are probably thinking I mean to refer to Clive Owen, but I so don't.. I am thinking Owen from the TV show "Torchwood".

Owen was one of two of the fab four who was failing to thrive when he came to the house.  He spent a lot of time "meatloafing" and just sitting on a lap or with another kitten.  I was so fearful that I took his temperature (normal if not a smidge low) and when the shelter opened up the next day I took him and his sister (upcoming) in to have their stool tested and to get some fluids. They gained back the weight that was lost, then lost some of that gain.  They are just hovering around the weight that they were when they showed up.  After a few days you'd think they would be more.. but nope. He is doing better clinically though.  He is a bit more outgoing, not always curled up in a ball, a little more engaging and more interacting.  Finding a food they will all consistently eat is not easy, and I've pretty much given up. They all like raw, and for now they will get raw, because frankly they are all just way too thin.  Owen isn't even fluff and bones because he has no fluff being short haired.  His fur is also quite wire-y.  Be glad that even his short coat covers his true condition, because there isn't an ounce of fat on this kitten.. anywhere. His tail is like a rod of pencil asparagus.. his ribs and hipbones are easily felt.. it is just so sad.

Last, but by no means least, is the girl of the Fab Four.  My husband named her when she was curled up on his lap one day causing a severe case of kitten paralysis.  Meet Anubis.  She should be called Velcro  or "no no, stop biting my nose", but if I picked the later than she would get really confused when I called her "no no stop biting my ear!"  After just a few short days she is doing better at the biting thing, but she does get over excited and can't help herself from time to time.  It really is sweet.  And when I mean she should be called Velcro  I do mean she should be called "the kitty who needs to be on a human at all times"  Just about all the pictures I have of her are on me. When I put her down to try to take a picture, she simply gets up and walks back over to me, so all shots are out of focus. This one above is when I finally got her off my lap long enough to get on the floor to take some pictures of the other kittens and she climbed on my back, then moved up to my shoulder and just sat there and purred waiting for me to turn my head so she could head butt me and we could touch noses.  She has a quota of a 1000 kisses per day, and is not afraid to run out.  She also loves to paw gently at my face as if patting me.  She is the kind of sweet you all too easily can get addicted to knowing full well that she is probably not going to be good for you.  I mean it is all well and good for an hour at a time, but could you imagine this all day long... (actually I don't have to, as I'm currently typing this up with Muffin on my lap because she also needs to be attached to me for a good portion of her day)  She is also completely lacking in fat.  Her little bones stick out pretty much everywhere.  She dropped in weight about an ounce, gained half, lost it, gained an ounce, and lost a half.

Lest you think I'm exaggerating on the there is no fat on them at all..

I can't tell you how badly I want to feed them completely inappropriate things that will put weight on them.. but I know it is better to do it slowly and healthily.. One day at a time.. (OK, fine, one meal at a time.. )

cautiously optimistic

Both kittens that went to the shelter for weight loss are back up half an ounce.  I think I've gotten four names down, we'll see if they stick before I introduce them - well that and come up with a fifth name..

Kitten update and "I'm a winner"

So the five of them are so active and LOUD.. you would be shocked to realize we have a serious issue going on.  Two of the fab four started to lose weight.  The girl and the white faced boy were down almost an ounce in a day.  They also produce stool so odorous that it could probably be used to strip paint off walls.  

I was concerned enough to take a temperature and fortunately there wasn't a fever, if anything it was a little low.  I tried force feeding them baby food.  Their brothers loved it, these two however were very much not interested.

Girl is screaming at you to do...
something..
and do it NOW.. 

They are talkers, that is for certain.  You walk in they yell at you, you pick them up they yell at you, you feed them, they yell at you, you pat them they yell at you.  They tell you they are going to the litter box in a VERY LOUD VOICE.. (get the picture)   The four of them are very very people orientated and can almost always be found in a lap the minute one produces itself.

Little Miss Independant

Little Miss Independent is perfectly content to be on her own.  She's fine not getting patted, not being held, in fact she is perfectly happy having the fab four there because it means less attention on her.  Every time I pick her up and give her attention she looks totally freaked out and gives me airplane ears..   I'm hoping she gives up on that quickly.

Anyway, I took those two into the shelter with a stool sample.  Nothing was detected, so I was sent home with instructions to deworm again on the off chance they were so infested the first dose didn't take care of it all, and we gave them both some fluids.  When they got home they had a few bites of food, which was wonderfully encouraging, but not nearly enough to sustain.  Kittens have that horrible window where they should nurse AND eat, because neither one alone gives them enough calories to sustain them, and when you throw in just one other little thing, it can so easily tip the scales in the wrong direction.

I also got a package this weekend.  Cats & Co had a surprise giveaway, meaning they offered up "something" for us to win, with out telling us what it was.  It was so fun to win and wait to find out what it was.. well here it is..

The catnip is very strong, and smells great!   I was also excited to see the straw thing (at the bottom - it is purple) because Love-and-Hisses recently talked about what fun they were and I wanted to get some to try because every time I go down to the kitten room with a drink with a straw I end up losing the straw to the kittens :)   So far these kittens are more interested in ping pong balls, but I'm sure it will be chewed to pieces before summer.

This was hiding in the pict above.
I have yet to figure out where I'm going to put it, but I do love it.

Would you stop blogging and give me a lap already lady!!