The kittens get a visitor

So my friend Wendy has been squeeing over pictures of the kittens on the internet and has been saying she should come see them for quite some time now, but with her schedule and mine and their constant health issues it hasn't worked out until yesterday..

I am so happy to report that Snow took her visit very well.  She was so freaked over me when she first showed up, then freaked out over my husband when he started visiting.. I had hoped it was just the hormones talking and the fierce need to protect her kits (or run away and divert attention from the.. either way).  Snow enjoyed the attention and even elicited the coveted belly rub from her.  The kits were all so very active and then completely petered out and started snoozing.

Wendy just got herself the new iPhone, and I must say it takes lovely photos - not to mention Wendy takes lovely photos too..

I would also like to note that A Tonk's Tail honored me with an award

Since it is an 'opposites attract' award, and is designed for girls to give to boys, etc, I thought the opposite of my blog would be an only kitty blog, so in that thread of thought, I award this to Dorfy over at http://dorothykitteh.blogspot.com

Cleaning the kitten room

So the kittens are still really quite a mess.  Koshka also seems to strongly prefer a pristine litter box which doesn't happen so we have had a few 'on purposes' around the room.  First step, was to lock the kittens up because ...well if I have to explain it ;)

HELP!! We can't get out!!

this is kind of nice.. 

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?

Is it safe out there??

Issac Arnold, Smedley and Mishka decide to take a nap

I am HOPING we don't need to do this again until after they are gone, but I fear that I probably already have a mess down there..

Natures Variety Pride canned food provided by Chewy.com

So last month Andrew over at Chewy.com offered up the chance to try the new Natures Variety Pride cat food.  He misunderstood when I asked for the Natures Variety and sent me the dog treats that the adorable Walter ate once he felt better. He had the food sent to me a few days later, two cans of chicken and two cans of salmon, and I ended up using it to tempt Snow into eating back when she wasn't feeling well.  I had the post all written up in my head, but with all of what was going on with her and her babies not doing well I apparently forgot to put finger to keyboard and actually share it all with you. My apologies to Andrew and Chewy, but I am sure you understand.

So if you remember, back about a month ago my sweet foster kitty Snow - mom to seven babies was not feeling well due to dietary indiscretion - eating things that aren't really food due to having five-month-old kittens to care for as well as being pregnant with and then nursing seven more kits. She ate very heartily when she first showed up, but pretty quickly she stopped eating and started vomiting up debris.  Once she was done vomiting, she still was not all that interested in eating. I tried several different things, but she only picked at them, which made it very difficult for her to maintain her weight and health in the face of seven kittens nursing on her and draining her of key nutrients. I was beside myself trying to get her to eat.

I brought down the cans that Chewy.com sent me, and popped open the Cheshire's Chicken and she started eating very heartily. Within a short period of time, she polished that off, so I offered her the Starlet's Salmon. She finished that one off overnight, so the next morning I gave her the other two cans. It was the start of her regaining the weight she lost (she was under six pounds when this photo was taken) and taking back over the care of her kits. It would be a while after that when I knew we were out of the woods, and sadly not all of the kits made it, but we were very lucky to be able to bring six of them through that difficult time.

Fortunately in the month since, mother and kits have been doing well. There have been challenges for sure due to their very rough start, but we have six very cute adorable kits who will be looking for homes right quick.

Issac Arnold and his belly..

The Cute Network has volunteered to help Issac Arnold get to his new home if anyone here wants him.. or you could just come to Maine.. I mean seriously, Maine in fall is beautiful, and it would be a vacation you would NEVER forget.. (feel free to adopt Smedley with him, as those two are just about always together)

Remember Me Thursday

There is a movement today, it is called Remember Me Thursday where they are recommending we light a candle to shine the light on homeless pets everywhere.

This one is especially poignant to me as I have lost two kittens this year - after years of being able to save every kitten that came into my home - and we often light a candle to honor those who have died.

I light this candle in honor of Smivick and Little Henri Sigmund Spitter.. and for the millions of kitties that never even make it out of the shelter system. I am sorry we are still so far away from ending the suffering through out this world.  Hopefully those communities that do seem to have things under control can be a beacon for those who do not.. I pray for that often..

Super Potent Cat Nip - Thankful Thursday

So the wonderful Rene over at It's All About the Cats! saw I was growing cat grass for The Crew, and asked if The Crew really liked it.  I replied that that they do and she said she had some left over when she tried it for her kitties and they weren't interested in it and she wanted to send it over.

Well one to never let a mail package go with out adding a few extra goodies (just like me) I got several really cool things when it showed up.

She also made that towel which says "Nice Hat"
She also made the card.. She is so crafty!!

Now I have to say that catnip - that she grew herself with out any chemicals - is so strong that I think *I* got high off of it... I think you'll enjoy watching Fleurp being introduced to it in the first video, and her reaction to it in the second..







Btw, I've been told I should give warnings when I have super cute photos coming up.. Well for Friday consider yourself warned..

Wordless Wednesday - Jack and the lizard

Kitten Picts

Cubbie

Mishka

Smedley - not impressed with the flash

Verona

Koshka

Issac Arnold

Easy123Art - a review

Back in April, I was reading an issue of Modern Cat magazine when I saw an ad for Easy123Art I thought that it looked really interesting and I thought it would be fun to contact them to see if they might be willing to send me one so I could review it on my blog.

I looked around and saw they had a Facebook page, so I contacted them there. They replied in August telling me to send them a picture and they would send me a sample kit.

It took me a while to decide what photo to send. It is hard for me to single out one of my own cats for the honor, so I picked one of my favorite photos from around that time..

Yup, it is the great and wonderful Odilia!

A few days later the kit arrived..

The canvas is mounted on a wood frame for easy displaying. Everything was included, including those two paintbrushes. Since they gave me a 'detailed' version of the image I didn't think those brushes would cut it. The instructions say you can trim them, but it has been decades since I did a paint by number and I didn't really want to fumble around with it so I went to the local hobby store and got one of the finest detail brushes I could. It was great for the wee bitty bits, but a bit harder on the slightly larger ones.

The kit also came with a paper copy of the image for you to practice on. I immediately made a few more copies of it because as I said, it has been decades and I don't remember being all that good at it the first time around and I was so expecting them to give me a 'simple' version of the kit.. but I figured I would just go really slowly and take my time and have fun with it.

After starting the sample, I figured I'd finish it so I would have two copies. The instructions say that the paint would cover up the numbers, and it did for the smaller ones, but the larger numbers were not so easily covered and I had to go over them three or four times. The numbers on the paper copy were much harder to cover.

the lines are very visible on the paper copy

All in all, it took me somewhere between five to seven hours over 10 days or so to finish it. I probably could have done it less time if I didn't do both images and since the paint dries pretty quickly I really didn't need to wait as long as I did. I really enjoyed doing it, and it was so fun to watch the photo come to life. I am both disappointed and pleased that the colors were not true to the photo. Odilia is a silver gray kitty but the paint she came out brown / gold. I don't like it because it isn't her color, but I love it because it goes very well in my bedroom where I've currently chosen to hang it.  *update* Rene mentioned vintage in her comment, and that makes a lot of sense.  They do offer a 'vintage' option which would change the colors if you want to, and I bet that is what they did.

I have more than enough paint left over to do several more of these. They also gave me more paint than was necessary to do the image. Greens, blues, and reds were all included I am guessing because it is easier to include standard paints that have the numbers needed than to put only the necessary paint in the pots they send out.  After I was done, I thought it might be fun to do it again but changing up the colors and making it all psychedelic.. I don't think I will.. but I would seriously consider purchasing from them in the future..



Easy123Art provided the material, but the review is 100% mine..

Play time with the kitties

I'm bored.. play with me

Cubbie gives the toy the Paw-o-Doom
(and a few hisses for good measure)

So then I decided to share all the balls
 I had washed and put them in the basket so I would have a stash
 when they "lost" some of their toys

Yup, they preferred the basket!

Speaking of games, I was contacted on Tuesday by Jonathan over at Games.co.za  He wanted me to promote his website on my blog in exchange for some cute kitty paper clips. Well when people contact me out of the blue my first thought is always "is this legit". So I did a little research on his website before replying. Since it was obviously not US based, I ran it through a few web searches and a few verification sites and everyone said it was safe. I went and checked out the Cat Games he suggested I promote and I found a whole page of cute quick games that you can play if you want to waste a little time but not be too immersed in a game. These are those cute games you can pick up and then put down say when you are waiting for something. I scrolled through the games and saw a cat cannon game that was beyond horrific. It was designed for you to shoot a cat out of a cannon and hope you avoid explosives and a 'cat eating venus fly trap'  I couldn't imagine this would be a good thing so I opened it up and gave it a shot hoping I was wrong. Well it was pixelated so it wasn't all that graphic, but even in 8 bit you could tell the cat flew out of the cannon and after flying it hit the ground and it left a 'blood puddle' where it hit and it bounced.  It did this a couple of times before it ended up being eaten by the plant and pixelated blood spurted everywhere.

I immediately wrote back basically saying thanks but no thanks, explaining that I couldn't possibly put a link on my website that led to that, and that while he was totally free to leave it on there if he was willing to remove it to let me know and we could talk.  I figured that was that, because all too often those types of games are put on websites by people who tell you to 'lighten up' when you complain about the violence and who don't think that such thing is bad for cats in general.

Well I got a very nice email from him yesterday saying he could not believe that game was on there and he removed it along with two others that were similar.  I have to say, I was very impressed.  Jonathon is a very nice guy who just took over from a previous games editor in August.  I had some lovely conversations with him and he impressed me greatly with his courtesy and his concern.

So while technically this is a sponsored post because he did say he would send me a little something in return for sharing his website, I have yet to receive anything, and intended to give him a shout out even if nothing ever shows up.

Thankful Thursday - Issac Arnold

Well our dear Issac Arnold has hit 11 oz.  He is producing solid stools, and is eating like a champ.  Even better, his head is now as large as a ping pong ball and he can not fit it through the bars of the cage.  He is a total flirt with DH, and LOVES to have his belly rubbed.  I so hope someone who reads this is willing and able to adopt him because I would so love to hear how he grows up.  At 11 oz he is still exactly half the size of his healthier siblings.. and I can't help but wonder if he is a 'little cat' or if he is just that way because of the lack of nutrition in the first few weeks of life.

Smedley says he couldn't care less about what I think about Issac Arnold.. and thinks I should kiss his belleh!

Kiss it right here please!

He is a big fan of the belly rub and fully body kisses..