Thursday, June 30, 2011

Bug



Bug was born on April 7th to a sweet kitty named Jordan.  Jordan had come into the shelter a month before and no one knew she was pregnant.  She came down with a cold and was vaccinated and medicated, and she still wasn’t feeling well so they sent her to a vet to find out what was wrong; which is when they found out she was pregnant so she went into foster care.   While she delivered three happy and healthy babies, she was unable to produce much milk and as a result her kittens were bottle fed. 

Bug is the most outgoing of the bunch, but in a wild and crazy sort of way.  She has little impulse control and is always on “GO!!”  She is quite mouthy, and while her “bites” generally are pretty gentle, she can get lost in her game and start to hurt.  She LOVES to play and will chase after feathered toys and balls.  She loves wrestling with her siblings, often starting things when they weren’t looking.  If Bug becomes an only kitten you will need to be aware she will entertain herself and most people consider that to be a “mischievous” kitty.   She will do best if you have some time to engage her in play every day.

Bug seems to have taken after her dad as she is the least like her mom in looks and attitude.  She is a playful little thing that enjoys eating and a good game of chase.  She is litter box trained and while dry food was always available she did not eat much of it, preferring canned food.

Lily



Lily was born on April 7th to a sweet kitty named Jordan.  Jordan had come into the shelter a month before and no one knew she was pregnant.  She came down with a cold and was vaccinated and medicated, and she still wasn’t feeling well so they sent her to a vet to find out what was wrong; which is when they found out she was pregnant so she went into foster care.   While she delivered three happy and healthy babies, she was unable to produce much milk and as a result her kittens were bottle fed. 

Jordan was an incredibly social cat and she passed that on to her kittens.  Lily loves attention, but she also LOVES to play.  Another trait passed on was an immune system that isn’t ideal.  While she was never “sick” he had a hard time fighting off some internal parasites.  It is also believed that she might have a sensitive digestive system and would do best on a grain free diet (dry food was provided at all times, but she did not eat it, and would vomit it up if she did) Lily has a tendency to vomit a bit more often then most kittens, but it is believed that a grain free diet will help her.  While in foster care she ate what was available, which wasn’t always the best food.

Lily is a polydactyl kitty.  She has some extra toes that will need tending so they don’t over grow and cause her problems. She has great manners, is socially outgoing and uses the litter box well. Lily is pretty much what you get when you think of a happy kitty.

Nigel



Nigel was born on April 7th to a sweet kitty named Jordan.  Jordan had come into the shelter a month before and no one knew she was pregnant.  She came down with a cold and was vaccinated and medicated, and she still wasn’t feeling well so they sent her to a vet to find out what was wrong; which is when they found out she was pregnant so she went into foster care.   While she delivered three happy and healthy babies, she was unable to produce much milk and as a result her kittens were bottle fed. 

Jordan was an incredibly social cat and she passed that on to her kittens.  Nigel loves attention and prefers to curl up on your lap and watch his sisters play, well most of the time.  Another trait passed on was an immune system that isn’t ideal.  While he was never “sick” he had a hard time fighting off some internal parasites and as a result he is much smaller then his sisters.  It is also believed that he might have a sensitive digestive system and would do best on a grain free diet (dry food was provided at all times, but he did not eat it, and would vomit it up if he did)

Nigel is a polydactyl kitty.  He has five back toes instead of the normal four.  He has the standard five front toes, but his “thumbs” are much longer then normal.  He was originally born with one extra claw, but it was malformed and fell off shortly after birth. 

Nigel has great manners, is socially outgoing and uses the litter box well. Nigel really LOVES cat safe milk.  He likes small balls and feathered toys

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

at the vet


so last night was the last night to spend time with the babies.. So I went and made myself comfortable and started watching some Netflix.  almost immediately the cute and cuddly kittens I've come to know and love to cuddle with turned into all teeth and claws.  They were full of play and they were completely empty of stop.  They chewed on my toes, my fingers, my rings, my necklace, my shirt, my pants, etc.  Bug even tried to chew on my ear!!  (not sure she wasn't thinking it was a nice place to nurse at the time because I was laying down)

I barely made it 40 minutes before I couldn't take it any more.

Not that I'm ever happy to bring kittens back, but when they get like that it does make it a little easier.

I'm assuming they are going up for adoption this weekend, but I have a vet appointment with Fleurp so I won't be there.

Jack in the Box




I was watching a cat show on the Animal Planet the other day and saw a segment on the Nebelung.  I had never heard of this breed of cat, but it is basically a long haired Russian Blue.

What was interesting was the segment featured a Nebelung that the owners had found stray.  They then talked about the history
The Nebelung (NAY-bel-ung) breed began the way so many of our breeds began, a stray cat wandered out of the mist and into someone's home and heart. In the early 1980s a black domestic vagabond-turned-housecat named Terri produced a litter of three- two shorthaired black females and one longhaired male. The father, another anonymous nomad, was thought to have been an Angora mix.
Terri's owner, Cora Cobb of Denver, Colorado, gave one of the female kittens, Elsa, to her son, and in 1984 this shorthaired black domestic produced a litter of kittens that included a blue semi-longhaired male kitten. Subsequently named Siegfried, this kitten became the Nebelung's foundation cat.
Elsa's next litter, fathered by the same shorthaired Russian Blue-type neighborhood Tom, produced a female kitten, Brunhilde, who possessed Siegfried's qualities and characteristics. By that time, Cobb was so taken with Siegfried's beauty and personality that she decided to see if she could preserve his qualities by breeding brother to sister. In May 1986 Siegfried and Brunhilde proved to Cobb that they bred true by producing a litter of three blue longhaired kittens. Cobb named the cat the Nebelung, a German word that means 'creatures of the mist'.

So basically Nebelungs came about originally from stray kitties.  So it would stand to reason that that genetic combination could and would and should happen again.  I've seen several cats at my local shelter that looked very similar to Jack - in an almost scarey way.  
from http://www.catster.com/cat-breeds/Nebelung
So he might not have papers, but I bet you he's a Nebelung..

Monday, June 27, 2011

Bath Time for Nigel


Nigel was still looking dingy and didn't have that "new kitten smell" so I figured a bath was in order.  I brought him upstairs and he was quite curious about the new environment.  He became wide eyed at my kitties, and I let him sniff them.  I could tell he wanted to puff up and show them how impressive he was, but my crew is so non-plus-ed by kittens they don't even hiss at them any more.  So after a few quick sniffs we moved on to the bathroom.
 
Nigel was very interested in the whole experience.  He purred and purred, and explored and enjoyed every bit of it
yes, even the water
Unfortunately I couldn't get any photos or videos of the bath because I only have two hands, but he purred through everything but the final rinse.   When I wrapped him up in the towel he started purring again


looking around on the trip back to the kitten room
Once he got back, he was very concerned about getting his fur back in the right spots.  Bug helped him a bit but she got distracted by Lily.
He was very intent on grooming until I put down a bowl of cat milk.  All thought of his wet and displaced fur went right out of his mind.  He also became a little possessive of the milk.  I wanted to see if he liked this as much as KMR, which he does.
Don't you just love the toes?
Now for the "bad" news.  Nigel has finally reached two pounds.  They will be going back Wednesday to be neutered then up for adoption.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Pouncing Practice


I'm going to get you!!
get me? why?

Cause it's fun!! *wrestle wrestle wrestle*

Three little kitties all in a row

Hey Bug, you are right, wrestling is fun!!

Shhhhh.. don't tell him I'm here..

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Birthday Kittens


When the kittens left work on Friday, there were the sad noises people make when the cuteness leaves the building, and I suggested I bring them in for a bit on my birthday and we would have "Birthday Kittens".  Murmurs of approval came from all around.. so I brought them in yesterday.

Which was nice for me because after the party the kittens were making noises looking for a litter box, so I suggested I take them  home during lunch, and my boss suggested that I just not come back *grin* So I took her up on it and had a nice afternoon lazily window shopping.

This trip went much better then the last.  The kittens remembered being here and opened right up.  Everyone commented about how much more outgoing they were this time.
out we come

I think Bug remembered there was chicken to be had here

yup.

Nigel went right to the source

and licked them all so it would be his
 Unfortunately the rest of this action sequence was all blurry, but Nigel was smacking the chicken piece with his paw before eating it..
Chicken must die

Bug manned the phones
 I like this photo of Bug because you can see her "chest plates"... I like to call them something else but I don't want my website showing up on those kinds of filters :)
Notice the chicken remnants on the counter.. Don't worry, they ate it all.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Happy Birthday to me


the big 4.0.  It's not that bit of a deal to me, but it is a bit more then I thought it would. With time running so much faster now then it did when I was a kid, those birthdays seem to just pile up like kittens in an unmanaged clowder.

My sister stopped by earlier in the week and dropped off a gift.  Her birthday is tomorrow (43!) I missed her visit so I made a little video showing off what she got me.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

MORE baby juice for Nigel.


and I still don't know why I am calling it that.  I can only assume that is because that is what Nigel thinks it is.. Last night I decided to just bring some down for him.  He is about half a pound behind his sisters (they are 2lbs 5 oz) and I figured calories are good.. Well he knew I had it, and NOTHING ELSE WOULD DO!!  I even brought them down some raw food and it was summarily dismissed waiting for KMR.    I even put a few drops of KMR on the raw and canned, nope, no good.. I want the real stuff lady!!

So finally I put it down for him, and he proceeded to cover up as much of it as he possibly could, you know when kittens eat from the far side of the bowl so their bodies cover up as much of the food as possible. His poor little tongue must have gotten really tired because he didn't stop lapping until I pulled him away for fear he was going to overwhelm his tummy.  Lily snuck in the side and got some, Bug figured it just wasn't worth it and there was better stuff to play with anyway.

he licked the bowl so clean you would have thought it came out of the dishwasher.

This morning the raw was gone, but most of the canned remained and Nigel weighed 1lb 14.5 oz!!

Monday, June 20, 2011

More "baby juice"


Well I was hoping that Nigel would make it on ManCat Mondays, but he is still very much a babycat.  I went down last night and somewhere between lunch and dinner someone hurled all over the couch.  I am assuming it is Nigel as he is the one that feels the most boney after I find vomit. (if that makes any sense)

These are the most picky kittens I've ever had in terms of food.  What is gobbled up one day is shunned the next, but there is no rhyme or reason to it.

They are also the purriest bunch I've had in a while.  When I checked in on them at lunch time (I thought I heard a noise) they all ran right up to the door and started purring at me... it's really sweet.

So when I went to feed them, I changed the sheet on the couch and sat down for a while.  Nigel had a few bites then came and sat on my lap.  He sat and watched the girls playing.  I really get concerned when a kitten is "too cuddly" because it often means they aren't feeling well, but after a while he got down and started participating in play.  My husband showed up and Nigel sat on his lap for a while purring, then came back to my lap.    I'm fairly certain this is a case of "Skippiness" (referring to Skippy who just wanted to be held for half an hour before wanting to play scared me in him too) and he is OK except for what ever is causing him to vomit every couple of days.

So last night was also a food picky night, and I couldn't deal with Nigel's boney butt, so I made them some more "baby juice" (KMR)  I'm not sure why I have all of a sudden started calling it that.  Nigel was so excited he probably would have taken a shower in it if he could have (he stuck his head in there while it was being poured)

This morning, his weight is 1lb 13 oz..

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day


My husband does a lot to help me with the kitties (he should they are his too) and with the fosters, so I like to do something fun for Father's day for him.  This year I got him a miniature of "his kitty" Kit.

I found a woman on Etsy who does some amazing work and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for them.  I went a little overboard sharing photos and asking for additional things, and she was so kind and willing to work with me that I'm pretty sure I'm going to order at least one more if not one for all my kitties (cause what I really need is 10 little miniature felted cats that I need to protect from the real cats of my life)

It arrived just in time to get it to him..and it is freakingly adorable.  She even put a face on the mouse!!



and absolutely perfect because Kit kept my husband from going to sleep last night with a rousing game of "throw the mouse so I can bring it back, well most of the time"..  That pillow next to her is her second favorite place to sleep... the first being on Daddy..

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Kittens at work.


So the owner of the place where I work has gone back to Europe, so I'm able to bring the kittens in to work for more socialization.  I find that kittens who never leave the foster room tend to be shyer and don't adjust as well to going to the shelter... that and my boss and co-workers really enjoy having "Kitten Fridays".  Since I only work a few hours on Friday it is easy to sneak them in and not worry about food and litter.  Since these kittens are older then most when I start bringing them to work, I brought a little bit of chicken and didn't feed them breakfast to make being in a strange place a little easier to take. Lily was the bravest and was very happy to find the chicken
 Nigel wanted chicken too
 My boss feeding the kittens chicken
 Bug says she'll take hers in the carrier please
 well if you don't deliver
 I then put them in my boss's office to hang out with her.  She's got a few nooks and crannies that all kittens tend to gravitate to, but Nigel found a new one.  How and why he did this, we aren't sure but it certainly is adorable.

Nigel is now just about 1lb 12 oz. 
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