Can I have your kitten??

Mom and Miss Beckie have been friends for a long time. In fact, it was Miss Beckie that landed Tim and Tom here in the first place. They share duties between them at the adoption center at Petco and also do events and foster.

Last week there was the following phone conversation:

MB: Can I have your foster kitten?

Mom: ummmm. No. Why?

MB: I have a single kitten that needs a friend.

Mom: Let me have your kitten then.

(long pause)

MB: ummmm. No.

Mom could then be heard snickering .....

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Mom is still hoping for a friend (or two) for Silver.....she need playmates.

However....there is good news:

Slobbery Saturday.....

Another Caturday, another transport.

This time was once again for Ontario Bloodhound Rescue. These girls are on their way north...

Betsy

Nelly

Not much slobber on this trip. Mom anticipated one in the front and one in the back, but the girls climbed in the back together......

thanks......

the comments from yesterday were wonderful.... And mom got an email this morning from the shelter - all three moms took the babies on as their own, so these kitts have a good chance. Not out of the woods yet, but it is a step in the right direction.....

Marg said to look at Marble and Silver and smile. Mom told her that Silver is getting extra kisses - and doesn't appreciate it very much.

But, while mom said she wasn't going to act as our secretary today, we wanted to let you know how much we appreciate the support - and let you end your week on a smile (sorry for the poor video quality - mom didn't turn on the overhead light).

dammit.....

Louisa crossed the Bridge on Tuesday night.

Mom got home from work and found her with her third eyelid part way up, hot to the touch. She called the shelter director and they met at the shelter. Louisa's temp was 106.3 (normal is about 101). The director called one of their vets who recommended fluids and a shot of metacam and antibiotics. Or, head to MedVet and have her looked at. Mom opted for the vet route and the director agreed that was in order.

Mom got there about 6:30pm. They took blood and sent mom home about 8pm to check on the kittens and told her to come back around 9:30pm once the results were in. The preliminary results looked ok so the vet hoped to give Louisa fluids, convenia and send her home.

Didn't work out that way...... Louisa's CBC numbers were all over the place. The vet said she was septic - and basically already dying. She called the director and they spoke for a while.The director then talked to mom and together they decided to let her go. The vet gave her less than 50% survival chances and said she was suffering. Mom couldn't let that go on.

Mom bottle fed the kittens Tuesday night and Wednesday morning about 2am and again before work. She then dropped them off at the shelter and they are going to try to find foster homes that can support tiny bottle babies (they were born 4/8 so they are just over 2 weeks old). The cat caregiver called mom yesterday afternoon to say they are going to split them into groups of 2-2-3 and try to introduce them to the other nursing moms currently in foster care.

Mom is pretty sad. But she is also angry. Sitting at the clinic, she got to read Louisa's paperwork. The lady who brought her in found her LAST JULY!!! She had every opportunity to get Louisa to a vet for shots and care and to get her spayed. And did NOTHING!!! This could have been avoided. Instead, the woman did nothing until there were kittens and then brought them to the shelter. We know she couldn't have known how sick Louisa was, but she still pawned off her responsibility.

Mom knows that rescue work is hard. It is like a teeter-totter. Somedays are good days: cute kittens, great adoptions, good follow up stories, successful saves. And then there are the other days: losses, stupid people, adoption returns. To keep doing this, all you can do is hope you have more good days and bad. Cause you have to get up the next morning and keep going - heaven knows the next animal coming doesn't care that you are having a bad day.

We may not post tomorrow - we are making sure to give mom lots of love and purrs. Plus it is the end of the month which makes her pretty busy at work. We will try to get her to get the laptop out over the weekend at home so we can check in on everyone. She has a slobbery bloodhound transport on Saturday morning but no real other plans.

Show your Diva!!

In remembrance of Sweet Praline, Sweet Purrfections has asked us to get our diva on.  Well, we figured we would leave that to Ivy....she does diva very well!!!

More about the newbies...

So, Louisa is doing better. The dewormer worked and as of Saturday night, she seemed to have a little more control. However, she is going to take some patience. She keeps giving mom the hairy look of death. She is so tiny and pitiful....mom is trying to help and she doesn't understand that. She has even snapped at mom a few times in warning.

Sunday afternoon, the kittens got combed out, Louisa got combed out (mom skipped the bath for now - didn't want to stress her any more than necessary - or lose a finger). And the bathroom got cleaned. It took mom about an hour (the cleaning, not including the combing).....it was a MESS!

As to the kittens: 5 girls, 2 boys. And one of the boys has a white spot on his chest - that may be the only one mom is able to tell on the spot. Hopefully they get a couple of distinguishing marks as they get a little bit bigger, but we doubt it.

Mom considered seeing if Marble would help out. Louisa is pretty thin - though the kittens seem fine. Mom pulled out 3 kittens on Saturday evening, cleaned them up and set them up in the bottom half of a carrier so she could sit with them. Marble came over. She kissed a couple. She got in the carrier. She got back out and went into the pen with Silver. Mom put the carrier with the new kitts in it in the pen but no luck. So they are back with Louisa, but everyone is doing ok so mom says she is leaving well enough alone for now. Main thing is to get some weight on Louisa and keep the kittens doing well - cause NO ONE wants 7 bottle babies. :)

Mom has decided to try to help Louisa out some. There are a couple of tinier kittens. One is a girl and she latches right on to the bottle so mom is feeding her twice per day. Mom is working on pictures....it is hard to get since if they are near mom, they look like one big black blob....  MOL (in that second picture, 2 are nursing - and Louisa is giving mom her typical "touch me and die" look)

the newbies.....

(mom says the new interface may be growing on her - it just looks funny - she did try wordpress for a short time and HATED it, so she is going to make this work.....  MOL)

Mom got a call on Wednesday that the shelter had a mom and kittens that needed to be fostered.

When she got there Thursday night, the leads were holding a little black kitten. Mom thought it was one of the ones she was supposed to pick up. Nope, he had come in by himself. After several phone calls, trying the bottle, they introduced him to our new mom and kittens.

So, Louisa (an 8 month old kitten herself) came in with 6 kittens that are about 2 weeks old now. And came into foster with 6 kittens + 1. The +1 seems to be about the same age. And after 2 days, mom isn't sure which one is the addition. :)

 The problem is that Louisa has roundworms - she came from a place where none of the cats EVER got vet care. She is being treated now, but she has the runs. BADLY!! She just has no control and sometimes doesn't make it to the box. The bottom picture is 3 of the kittens after their first bath on Saturday... the plan was to give everyone a bath on Sunday.

We know that some people would wonder about having Marble and Silver and then taking another mom and kittens. But, Silver is old enough to spend some time on her own. Marble is going back and forth into and out of the pen, so that is fine too. Mom has the experience to deal with different groups and especially since so many groups need fosters and help.

easy like Sunday....

 yep - that is Silver....

posing for the camera (Marble)

BTW - mom got "updated" to the new blogger interface and isn't very sure she likes it. maybe with time, but right now it just looks weird.....

Have a great Sunday....mom has work to do in the bathroom.....

Medical update.....

The v-e-t called mom yesterday with Maestro's report card. His numbers are a little high, but no more than when they were done a year ago. His globulin protein number is high, which means he may be fighting an infection of some sort.....  He is sneezing and Dr Taylor said his teeth don't look great, so he will be on an antibiotic for a little bit. Obviously at 17 yrs plus, his teeth aren't getting cleaned. Though mom is going to seriously think about everyone else..... (uh oh)

So, all in all, he is an old mancat, but in relatively good shape. YEAH!!

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes......

First, mom read that some of you like the idea of mobile vets. She found a couple of resources: http://housecallvets.org/ and http://www.localvets.com/services/mobile-vets/  Though our v-e-t isn't on either site....

As for the changes in the house, the dining room now looks like this:

Yep, there is a condo using the big pen set up. And Silver is in jail:

Mom was hoping Marble would stay in there with her. When mom put the gate in front of the bathroom, Marble never went over, so mom mistakenly believed Marble couldn't go over. Turns out Marble just liked it better in the bathroom. Mom set everything up and moved them both into the new condo. Few minutes later Marble was rubbing on mom's ankles in the kitchen. Oops....  However, mom did find her back in there with Silver at different times so she doesn't have to worry about that.

However, Tommy and Marble are giving each other the stink eye and there is some name calling. Marble normally backs down, but not always.....  Of course, since she is already spayed, if we can get Silver to eat on her own, Marble can go to Petco.

As for the reason for the condo.....the bathroom has new guests:

(more on them next week..no, that is not one BIG black cat)

Thankful Thursday

Mom is very thankful that our v-e-t comes to the house - and we are thankful we don't get shoved in the PTU. Also, when our previous vet clinic was bought out, mom was told that she would not be allowed to bring us more than 3 at a time....great.....

Hannah and Lucy asked about the cost and it is actually comparable to an office vet. The only difference is her travel charge, but she tries to schedule in similar areas at the same time to split that among several clients. Though mom thinks some of us (MO) might behave better in an office, it isn't worth the stress of shoving everyone in carriers (and having us pop back out get shoved back in etc), dragging the carriers to the car and waiting in an office with several cats singing the "let me outta here" song.

Mom is also thankful that Silver is....peeing in the box!!!  Mom and Silver did the potty dance the other night. Mom was getting ready for bed, Marble was eating and Silver was goofing off. Then she got in the box, scratched some - and ate the litter (which is why you use clay litter until you are really sure about kittens - the clumping stuff swells up). Then she chewed on the box (mom uses a small cardboard box that the cans of kitten food come in since she buys in bulk). Then she squatted down. Got out of the box and assumed the position. Mom put her back in. She got back out. In, out, in, out. There are no pictures or video - honestly since it went on for a couple of minutes, it got a little boring....  However, in the end, mom won, Silver peed and we are one step closer to independent kitten!! 

Marble can't wait for the day she gets to post a thankful thursday that the kit is EATING on her own (which she may be doing now but mom has yet to catch her in the act and she has caught her still nursing).

But, here is what we are REALLY thankful for. See, after Tommy's 2010 adventure mom has only opened the windows a crack. That head alpha mancat screwed it up for the rest of us. Mom thought she had a solution - she remembered these inserts that her grandparents used to use in their windows in the summer. She looked around but couldn't find anything. She was going to resort to asking grandpa to make her something, when Miss DeLynn bought her a birthday present:

They fit in the front of the window. So, no more sleeping in the window sills, but at least the windows are open more than a couple of inches. They were at a local small hardware store (another good reason to avoid those big box stores). Mom wants to get a couple more for other windows!!

Wordless Wednesday.....

Quick - nope, grandma still doesn't know about the ink. We are thinking about clucking everytime we see mom from now on....

Now, let the squeeing begin.....

Who invited her???

What the heck???

Mom came home and 3 ladies came upstairs hauling all their stuff.

Run!!! It's the v-e-t.......

Don't get us wrong. Mom likes her. We are sure she is a nice lady. But she comes bearing pointy objects...

Yep, time for Spud and Mozart to get their annual exams and shot. Junior is supposed to get his too, but mom decided that since he is making social progress, she doesn't want to push her luck with him and set back his progress. Since he lives in the house and is only a year and a half old, she figures it is ok. And yes, the v-e-t is ok with it...for now. :)
   (no snickering Junior - it is unbecoming)

Mom grabbed Spud to put him in the bathroom and he grabbed her back - she has a perfect 4 point toenail mark on her arm...even the ladies felt bad cause those nails went ALL the way in (ouch). And Mozart was his normal snarky self....poor mom. Mo is a nice boy until the v-e-t shows up - and then he turns into the cat from hell.

Here is something interesting - Tim, Tom and Mozart have magic microchips....the display shows their chip info and also their body temperature. Dr Taylor says she has never seen this before (or since) and finds it fascinating. We think it should be standard issue to avoid certain indignities at the v-e-t.

Mom also had Dr Taylor check on Maestro. He gets checked every 6 months since he is so old (17 yrs last November). He is still eating and using the box, but mom wants to be sure. Plus she felt a bump at the base of his tail that makes her nervous. Dr Taylor did draw some blood and other stuff to check him out. We should have his report card by the end of the week. The bump? Turns out it was his hip bones...oops. MOL

Dr Taylor let mom weigh Silver too.  She now weighs....at 4 weeks....1 pound.

holy carp.....

That baby kitt almost gave mom a heart attack on Caturday.

Mom was running around....laundry, groceries, transport, dinner out with grandma and grandpa. Only she checked her email and the transport was screwed up - they forgot to account for central time so everything was pushed back an hour. Which screwed up her dinner plans. And then she got a call later that the transport was running early.....

Anyhow, it all ended well and mom came home, got changed after dinner and crashed. About an hour later she went in to check on Marble and Silver. Silver was on her side, paws up by her face, not moving. Mom freaked. She grabbed the kitt and Silver was limp in her hand. Mom was THISCLOSE to freakin' out when Silver lifted her head, blinked twice and started to read mom the meepin' riot act. Apparently Silver is a sound sleeper and mom woke her up.

snoozin' at Petco....

She went with mom to Petco today. Apparently it is tough being that cute...

(yes, that is a tube of chapstick next to her)

Sunday night was funny too - the weather was VERY nice and mom opened the windows (YEAH!!!) and put the big gate in front of the bathroom to get some fresh air in there. Last thing mom does at night is get ready for bed, check on Silver and Marble and turn off their light. Mom went in and Tim came over the gate with her. Thankfully Marble has met the guys and really doesn't care. Tim assumed his normal position in the sink and only left when mom kicked him out. He jumped down to the floor (again, ignored by Marble). He landed about 6 inches from Silver, who jumps straight up, all her hair stands up, her back arches and she says "pfrst!!!" Tim glance at her and went over the gate into the house. :)

O...M...C...

Maestro let mom.....

use....

the dyson monster.....

to vacuum him!!!!!

(no, there are no pictures or video cause mom was busy - but still!!!)

    ok - it was a whim. he was sitting there - didn't run or anything - not sure if he is just too old to care or what. Knowing that my one aunt had previously done it to one of her cats, I put my finger over part of the hose attachment and tried it - and it sat still and let me suck off the loose hair......

Weekly wrapup......

Let's see......

Grandma and grandpa still don't know about the ink. But, mom is having dinner with them this weekend. Now, it isn't that mom is keeping it hidden - she has her sleeves pushed up at work and she wears short sleeves to the shelter to volunteer. She is proud of her artwork (which of course is just LOVELY now that it is peeling - and yes, it is supposed to do that - mom is just keeping it lotioned up), but she just doesn't want to hear about it from grandma....can't blame her for that. MOL

Mom ran into the lady who adopted Cheerio the other night at Petco. His name is now Truman and she said that he is loving their basement living room though hasn't come upstairs yet. She loves him a lot and we know he is in a good place. She had a video on her phone of him running around after a mousie toy. :)

Mom said something about a transport tomorrow. More on that on Monday we are sure. Plus there is an adoption event at Petco on Sunday, so mom will be over there for a few hours as well.

Oh, and check this out.....Miss Chrystal from Daily Dose of Dogs has written a book. How cool is that??? If your order it from her website (there is a spot in the upper right corner), she gets $4 of the proceeds. Mom is pretty excited to read it...

Otherwise, mom mumbled about laundry and the dyson monster. And some visitor Monday night that we aren't going to enjoy...wonder what that is about??

Oh, and happy Friday the 13th - be sure to kiss a house panther for good luck!!

(no, Mo isn't going anywhere, mom had the carrier open to take Sissy to Petsmart

and turned around to find Mo inside - silly boy)

Thankful Thursday.....

Today we are being thankful for....

YOU!!!

This group of people and cats and dogs we have met on the web is amazing.

In joy, we celebrate new arrivals, new adoptions, new fosters, new life, birthdays, blogoversarys, and gotcha days.

In sorrow, we send love and grieve with each other for every loss.

In support, we take a stand, we donate to those in need and we offer advice to those that need help.

We can't imagine not having met each and every one of you. And we are SO thankful that we have.

wordless wednesday

(yeah, Tim gets on the middle seat of the cat tree, and Ivy climbs up and curls up with him - we believe the phrase you are looking for is - lots of cat, not enough tree)

baby update...

Because there can never be too much cute on the interwebs.....mom took more pictures of Silver. She is now just over 3 weeks old. Her teeth are just starting to come in - Marble is in for a surprise when she gets nommed...  MOL  Mom tried giving them canned food over the weekend. Marble loved it. Silver made a face and stuck out her tongue.

For all her worry, Mom says that Silver is doing very well. Hopefully over the next week or so she will start trying some canned food and put on some weight. She is playing more and cracks mom up.

Happy Birthday Marg!!!

We all know and LOVE Marg!!!

So stop by and wish her a VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY!!!

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Oh - and Mom is still alive - cause she chickened out and wore long sleeves to pick up grandma and grandpa at the airport last night.  MOL

    Hey - it was chilly.....

Whatever mom.

Happy Easter!!!!

Remember - chocolate bunnies make better gifts than the real ones (unless you REALLY want a new bunny and are prepared to have one in the house as a pet).

We are snoozing away the day and mom is moaning and groaning about catching a spring cold. She is hacking like she has a nasty hairball.  :)

mom's gonna get it....

Madeline update first: mom stopped last night at the store to check on Y. The assistant manager said Madeline's new dad stopped by and she is doing very well. Friendly and likes to be pet - they are going to keep her in her room for a couple more days, but says she is doing great.

Caramel update: his name is now Maximus and he is doing well also. His new dad says he may be a little snotty, but mom warned him about that. But the boy is running around like a nut and LOVES his new sister.
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Anyhow, on to mom.....

Grandma is going to kill her dead.

See, as a birthday present to herself, she added another cat to her collection.

No - not that kind of cat. Though that WOULD give grandma a coronary. (besides, that cat above is Ivy - she already lives here)

Nope....mom got....more ink. :)  Yep - our sorta mild mannered mom has tattoos. Three before now. But, easily hidden, small and relatively subtle. This time she said - screw it, went big, bold and visible (it is on her left forearm):

Yep - get your phones ready to call the po-lice. Grandma and grandpa come back from vacation on Sunday. Mom may not live to help us blog on Monday.

Grandpa you ask? Mom says he lives somewhere in Egpyt near da-nile. Seems his theory is "if you don't mention or talk about it, it doesn't really exist".  MOL

Great news.....

Thanks for the Gotcha Day and Birthday wishes.....we loved having you help us celebrate. Mom went to dinner with some friends...so of course OUR dinner was late. But - there were treats later, so we let her off easy.

And.....

Tuesday night, our Madeline (see her original story here) went to her forever home.

(sorry - bad picture - she just would not cooperate)

She went to a very quiet home with a very nice retired couple. Mom sent LOTS of instructions and made sure they will give her the time and patience she needs to adjust just one more time. Mom is glad she found a home and will touch base with them in about a week to see how she is doing. We expect it will be much easier into a home than into the adoption space.

Happy Gotcha Day!!!

Yep, a year ago, mom decided to keep the big orange guy and make him a permanent member of the crew.

no, I am not angry. why do you ask?

He has turned into quite the big cat, but is still pretty jumpy. Mom swears that someday she is going to pet him and he is GOING to like it. :) Right now, mom can get within about 3 feet. And the other day she was putting groceries away in the kitchen and she turned around and he was flopped over on the floor on his back. First time she has seen him lay like that. Of course, he moved before she could get the camera.

He was making noise the other day in the dining room and mom got out the video camera. He was stalking one of mom's hair ties (which she picked up when he walked away - don't want anybody eating them).

Oh, and it is mom's birthday too....guess we should wish her happy birthday!!