Thursday, June 30, 2016

social skills

Mom noticed on Sunday evening that Hemlock and Sumac seemed....slightly....friendlier after their siblings had been gone all afternoon. It was an interesting change. And it has stuck a little bit.

For their meals, mom puts the canned food in the dish and then at breakfast hangs around until everyone is eating and then makes sure to pet everyone. At dinnertime, she sits on the floor, puts the dish in front of her and makes the kittens come to her. The scaredy girls take a little shorter time to come over each meal and this is a good thing. Plus both girls have stopped hissing at mom unless they get startled.

left to right: Suman, Hemlock and Juniper


While their social skills aren't perfected, at least mom is seeing some progress. Heck, the other day she grabbed Hemlock (who has always been the most scared) and held her for a while. It was the first time that Hemlock didn't pin her ears back the entire time she was being held.

Monday evening mom grabbed Daiquiri and brought her into the foster room to see what would happen. To this point, Daiquiri would hang out near the door and wave her paws around if mom left an opening between the door and the wall, but she hadn't come in the room. Mom wasn't sure what Daiquiri would do, but in true form, she wandered around a little and then sampled the kitten food. MOL  The kittens at first surrounded her and then wandered off. Cedar went over to play with mom. Hemlock laid down to watch. And Birch .... well, he came unglued. He flattened himself to the floor and YOWLED! Luckily Daiquiri didn't see him as much of a threat (poor boy - all that effort for nothing). Everyone else kind of followed her around for a while. Daiquiri did find their catnip toy though and once she got her nip on, the kittens were just annoying and mom sent her packing. So, she may not win the "Uncle Tim" star for socializing kittens, but she can at least help get them used to seeing other cats.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

not so wordless Wednesday

Mom broke out a wand toy the other day. She is still trying to get Hemlock and Sumac to come closer to her and hang out. Birch is friendly, but she does have to catch him first.


swing and a miss

sometimes you just have to run over your sisters

all 6 in the picture
(OK - Birch is WAY in the back, but still....)


notice all three torties...very very close  MOL




Tuesday, June 28, 2016

review


We are a #ChewyInfluencer household and get a product free each month in exchange for an honest review. Receiving the product doesn't influence our opinions - we ARE cats! MOL  

This month we got canned food from Nature's Variety. Mom thinks it was the chicken kind, but she didn't take a picture of the box or a can or anything....and she can't remember. We do know it is grain free and mom is trying to make sure she keeps us on that kind of diet.
Mom is trying to find a canned food we will all eat. While she says she doesn't think she will completely switch us all to canned, she would like to try to change one meal a day. So she broke out the expensive paper plates and put a serving out for all of us permanent residents.

Daiquiri and Tommy gave it a try

Mozart had to hold off an orange interloper

Spud was pretty enthusiastic

After sniffing every plate, we give it 3 out of 6. Spud, Daiquiri and Mozart ate their share. Tommy and Ivy sniffed it and walked away. Junior tried it, but didn't eat much.

Fortunately, the foster kittens like this kind and they were more than happy to eat the left overs.

Monday, June 27, 2016

weekend report

Juniper disapproves of mom's late posting....

Just a quick update. Mom spent the weekend with the kittens but also helped drive another bloodhound for rescue on Sunday morning. Ellie Mae is 11 years old and super sweet....just left behind by someone. She dozed for most of the hour trip with mom and landed safely in a foster home by early Sunday afternoon.

The kittens are all sneezy, so the spay and neuters mom had planned for Cedar, Alder and Juniper for today are being delayed. Silly kittens....it is like they know those words and do it on purpose.

Mom did take those 3 to an adoption event on Sunday afternoon. Juniper freaked out a little at first but relaxed. Alder wasn't too sure about the whole thing but was eventually wrestling his sister and playing with a toy. Cedar was mr social butterfly....until nap time caught up with him. This is the store where Amaryllis is available for adoption but she is SO over kittens that she didn't even look in their direction. MOL

Friday, June 24, 2016

Random Fridays

Mom has checked on the flower kittens a couple of times now. As of Wednesday night, no applications, but the rescue does more on weekends, so we suspect they may go then. (paws crossed) Orchid was being very social, Muscari was WHINY (and he sounds like a rusty hinge - only louder) and Dandelion has come out of the corner and was being very friendly. Since space is limited, they did put other kittens in the tower with the flower kittens....one is a cute snowshow/siamese mix male who is ORNERY...he growled at both Muscari and Orchid (and is about half of Muscari's size). Being well behaved kittens, but of the flower kittens backed off.
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Mom has given up on the bottom shelf of the large cabinet in the foster room. It remains empty and the kittens love playing and snoozing there. Mom keeps trying to leave a bed or blanket on the shelf, but inevitably, it gets shoved off.
Cedar (maybe) and Sumac

Alder

Sumac

Birch and Sumac
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Mom is helping move a hound on Sunday and then has an adoption event. It rained a ton here on Wednesday night so we just hope it dries out some and no more rain for a few days. A lot of our friends are at Blog Paws in Phoenix this weekend. Mom just couldn't make the finances work this year but certainly hopes they are all having a good time (and drinking lots of water and staying in the a/c).

Thursday, June 23, 2016

take two....

**FYI - we seem to be having some camera issues. We are also having some nasty weather here, so that may be it. Sorry for no kitten tv

Well, mom dropped of the flower kittens at the adoption center (take two) on Tuesday. Orchid seemed ok, Muscari was whining about being in a tower, and Dandelion hid in a corner. Poor babies....  There are kittens up there, but we suspect these 3 (paws crossed) will go quickly.



Juniper fell asleep like this

Orchid couldn't believe that position was comfortable

It is a little quieter in the foster space without the 3 bigger kittens in the room. The little ones don't seem to make quite as much noise without the flower kittens in there. The tree kittens are doing well. A little snotty but nothing serious. Birch - the newest orange tabby boy - has come around pretty quickly and while he is hesitant to approach for attention, he will sit near mom and doesn't mind being held or pet. Hemlock and Sumac seem to be a little tougher to crack. Mom is thinking this weekend she may take them into a smaller space and work with them using something high value as bribery. None of them are at 2 pounds yet though, so we have time to work with them. 

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Rough housing

The flower kittens love to race around and jump on each other. Mom swears they may actually be spring loaded for the amount of hang time they can get. And of course wrestling is a favored sport. Either with each other or with a little kitten if that is who they can catch.



Despite the outrage of Muscari, he and Dandelion seem to have  blast just running around like nuts. Though of the flower kittens, Muscari is by far the whiniest.

Monday, June 20, 2016

weekend report

Yep - it is definitely summer....we think the hots are here to stay for a while.

Mom spent more time with the kittens this weekend. Mozart got into the foster space on Friday (mom didn't have her camera). Two tree kittens ignored him, a couple of the kittens were curious....and the rest freaked out and put on their stranger danger suits. Sumac and Hemlock called him several names too. Since kittens aren't really his thing, he didn't stay very long.

Muscari

Dandelion

Dandelion and Orchid

Birch and Sumac

The hissy kittens are making progress. Hemlock is still the most hesitant to be held. Birch and Sumac don't seek out attention, but they are making more progress. Hemlock is still pretty hissy.

Everyone seems to be feeling better. The flower kittens will probably go to an adoption event with mom next weekend and then back to the adoption center. The tree kittens still have a few weeks before they are big enough for surgery.

Friday, June 17, 2016

random Fridays

You may have noticed a change to the appearance of the blog. We won a give away from Glogirly and she redid our header and made us some social media buttons and get everything set up for us (since mom couldn't do it on a bet). She has a great design site and we are THRILLED with the new look. Glorgirly - you ROCK!!!
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There were a couple of comments that people didn't get why mom cracked herself up naming the torties. Sumac and Hemlock are poisonous....thus she thinks she is funny naming hissy torties after those trees. MOL

For those of you that didn't see it on facebook or instagram, there was a 6th tree kitten and he was finally caught on Tuesday. Mom picked him up Tuesday night and he is NOT happy about it. His brothers hissed at him a little and then went about playing. Hemlock curled right up with him. Like the hissy girls, he isn't happy about being grabbed, but will tolerate being held. The goal is to get them not only to accept attention but come looking for it (thankfully we have time to get there).
Meet Birch
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Everyone seems to be feeling much better thankfully. If they get back to 100%, the flower kittens are ready to go and get themselves adopted.
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Also, for those of you that don't follow us on social media, starting last weekend, mom put out a plea from our rescue Colony Cats for help from anyone near Calgary Canada. Miss Jill reached out via Twitter and she picked up Tora last night. While we aren't exactly sure how Tora got to Calgary, she had been surrendered to Calgary Humane and they had originally made her available for adoption. Then after determining her to be very shy and stressed, contacted the rescue that she needed to be picked up. Ummmm....we are in Ohio. Fortunately, Miss Jill has the space to take her and picked her up last night. She said Tora settled right in to the spare bedroom and was already seeking out attention. We are entirely sure what the next step is for Tora, but HUGE applause to Miss Jill for seeing our plea and coming to her rescue.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

throwback Thursday

(or...mom got busy this week and didn't get something else prepared for today....hahaha)

The flower kittens are now 11 weeks old. Can you believe it??? They are all feeling much better so hopefully in another week or so we can get them back to the adoption center. Amaryllis' surgery went well and she is now in her own private set up at one of our remote adoption locations.






Dandelion

Muscari

Trillium

Orchid
(mom loves this picture - it cracks her up)

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Amaryllis

Amaryllis goes to be spayed tomorrow and then hopefully to the remote adoption location where mom cleans. (that depends on other adoptions - they have applications)

Amaryllis has been a great momma cat. She did a great job raising the flower kittens. Though it was funny that once she lost interest, she really was done with them. She would still let them nurse if they caught her, but she tried her best to find a spot in the foster room where she could escape them. When the tree kittens were added, mom swears she heard Amaryllis' eyes roll into the back of her head. With them all in there, we can hear Amaryllis grumble grumble grumble but eventually give in to the kittens. We suspect she will be MORE than happy to have some peaceful accommodations to herself for a while. Mom hasn't seen her actually play, but we do suspect she isn't very old. She doesn't seem overly fazed by all of us, though there haven't been any nose to nose meetings.

100% over your shenanigans

kittens? what kittens? I see no kittens....



Monday, June 13, 2016

weekend report

We hope you all had a nice weekend. It was HOT here on Saturday. Mom was cleaning at one of the remote adoption locations for the rescue and ended up calling the police for a small dog locked in an SUV. Our state has passed a law for breaking windows for pets and kids, but it doesn't go into effect until August. As the police (finally) showed up, the family (WITH KIDS!!!) came out of a nearby store and the cop did lecture the dad. Hopefully they won't do it again....

As for adoptions, the best laid plans and all that.....

Mom took the flower kittens up to the adoption center after work on Friday. Dandelion started doing his cough from being sick in May so mom ended up leaving Orchid and Muscari (who, it turns out is a BIG whiner). She planned to meet the head of the rescue Saturday morning to have her check Dandelion.

Well, turns out he was running a fever....and the other two didn't look so hot either. Mom ended up picking them all back up and bringing them back home.

The little ones are sick as well. From all appearances, it is a virus called calici. The FVCRP vaccine covers this, but since the older kittens were sick, their vaccines just started and the little ones got their first one when they came to our house. All of OUR vaccines are up to date, so it isn't something we will get from them. And Amaryllis was vaccinated right after the kittens were born, so she had time to build her immunity. Mom got a text from Miss Beckie that has Trillium and apparently he had a fever on Friday. Must be a weird family thing. Anyhow, they are on meds and the important part is to keep them hydrated and eating (which they all are). However, nothing like trying to socialize hissy torties and now having to catch them twice per day and force meds on them. sigh.....

Sumac

Dandelion

Juniper and the boys
(she the friendly tortie)

Hemlock and Sumac
still not sure about that foster lady


Friday, June 10, 2016

random Fridays

Well, the flower kittens did very well after their surgeries and will be headed up to the adoption center today.  We suspect they will all be gone by the end of the weekend....or at least we hope so. Amaryllis goes for surgery next week and then will go to one of the remote locations for adoption. If you didn't see it on Instagram or Facebook, we got an update from our friend Miss Beckie about Trillium who is still a little wheezy but doing much better.
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mom loves that face (Daiquiri)

Daiquiri and Tommy
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Well, the newbies have names. Sticking to a spring theme, these 5 are going to be named after types of trees (and honestly, while naming the torties girls, mom cracked herself up - see if you can figure out why):

Hemlock

Sumac

Juniper

the orange boys won't hold still
They are: Cedar and Alder
(need to get close up pictures to be sure which is which)
torties: (front to back) Juniper, Hemlock, Sumac

Mom was leaving for work the other day when she saw the first picture and managed to get it before anyone moved. Then she realized that everyone was actually over there and got this picture. OK - so the torties are in one pile, one orange kitten is moving and the other is facing backwards. But....this is whole current crew.