Orphans at work

as promised, photos of the kittens when I brought them to work...

Anne:


Anne & Oliver:


Annie taking a kitten nap:


Playing with office supplies:


Wrestling:


Winding down:


Their possible new mom and dad:

Orphans at work

Well I took Oliver, Anne and Annie to work last Friday, and it went surprisingly well. They were a little more freaked out than I expected, but they adjusted pretty quickly and spent most of the morning hanging out with my boss on her desk. They are a bunch of charmers. Oliver much more so than the girls. He is a show off and a lover. When I go and feed him he runs right up to me, and licks my ankles and rubs his head in my hand. He also likes to flomp over and show me his belly :)

I have quite a few photos, and I need to upload them and post them. I'll get to that in the next few days.

They are going to get tested later in the week. Either Thursday or Friday afternoon, depending on how things go. *crosses fingers that they come up negative* They are so healthy, they have to..

Skippy Update

I went back to the shelter on Friday, and I saw Skippy's new owners. They said all the right things, and seemed on the surface to be perfect parents, but I wasn't 100% happy with them. Why? well they said a few other things that led me to believe they were just saying things to make us happy. I would have prefered they said "yes, we are going to let him out" instead of hiding it. Reason being Skippy is EXTREMELY prey driven, and probably will run after something small and get very lost. Also they had no questions about the possible re-occurance of his urariny issues. I would think that potential owners would want to know what that might mean for them and Skippy, but they didn't ask. Maybe they've dealt with it before? I don't know. I do know they said they really liked the idea that he wanted to cuddle a lot, and that they would be home to cuddle with him.

While I am an indoor only no dry food advocate, I am accepting that many cats do live a long life going outside and eating dry food. However, there are some cats that can't do that (like Benny or Skippy). Getting the right cat to the right people is what is important.

Guilt

I got a very nice comment on my post about returning Skippy. CG (oddly enough my own initials) just returned her first foster kitten (and I am assuming it is a woman) and is dealing with the guilt.

Guilt. I know it all too well. The "I want to save them all and I can't". Every time I go into the shelter for supplies I seem to come out with a new kitten to care for. I just recently had to turn down a two day old kitten who needed round the clock care because I realized bringing kittens into work every day was NOT going to work out (co-worker's dog thinks kittens are toys) I felt horrid.

But there is some acceptance of that guilt, and I just live with it as a companion to the joy that comes from the good I am able to do. CG has limitations in her life with three high maintenance kitties. For her own good, and for the good of the kitties she does own, she knows her limitations. Adding more and more cats would overwhelm her and do harm to her own beloved cats.

When I am tempted to add more (than my already busting at the limits seven cats) I am reminded of a woman who used to foster with me. Under just one year her household went from one cat to 12. 12. Now I have no issue with her having a dozen cats because I know her, and know she can take care of them, but when I had six I was easily overwhelmed with them (of course one of those six was a diabetic) and I couldn't fathom having double that number. I think I vowed at that point to never have more cats in weight than I weighed. *smile*

I know it is so easy to keep kittens. They are small. They don't eat much. They are fun, and cuddly and playful. Basically they sucker you in with cuteness. however by giving in, you put their life, your own, and the lives of any of your current pets under more stress. Maybe it would work out (as it did in my case when I kept Fleurp - but I struggled long and hard about that) but there is a good chance you'll just overwhelm yourself and not provide the home for anyone you want.

I also have to remind yourself there are a *LOT* of great homes out there. No, they aren't yours, and no, they probably wont do everything as you would do it, but that's ok. The kittens will be loved and cared for, and while you might do it differntly, the cats will be happy.

Dropping Skippy off

Well that was hard. I was so certain because he has always shown so much confidence that he'd be fine going back, but he wasn't.

It very much felt like a mom dropping off her clinging child on his first day of school.

he reacted badly to the ferrets that we were 5 feet away from, and he reacted badly to the other kittens that were there. They keep the kitten cages in a hallway, and in the AM they let the kittens run the halls. Well I went in there with the skipster and held him to see what he wanted to do. He cowered into my lap and hissed at the other kittens. I tried to get him to join in the play, and he just scrambled to get back on to my lap.

We tried him in an adult room, and he seemed ok in there until one of the younger cats started stalking him and cornered him.

So we put him back in the hall and put the bully orange kitty in the adult room. I put Skippy inside the open cage, and left him. I know he just has to get used to thing and he will be fine.

I also just got an email from the shelter saying he isn't neutered. For some reason when they shaved him down and cath'ed him for the infection they didn't neuter him. I asked earlier in the week if they wanted to double check, and I was told he was neutered, and I thought he was, but apparently he wasn't. Soooo, he goes to the vet tomorrow.

Poor Skippy. He's not having a good day.