Year in review

 It's been quite a year. 

We had the Spartan kittens, the kitchen kittens, the cabbage kittens, the capital kittens, the happy kittens, the Texas flower kittens and now the muffins. We feel very luck that everyone has been adopted including our momma cats Ree and Huzzah. We had some heartbreak but we know that happens. 

All the permanent residents here including our girl Allie continue to do well. Daiquiri and Ivy seem to be doing much better after their dental cleanings so that's good news. Ivy needs a senior check up and mom swears Goldfish is getting seen....some day. Haha

Mom also says we've been lucky. She's been able to work from home and our friends and family have stayed safe and healthy. We know there are been so many losses this year for so many. 

The rescue is doing well too. Mom has been super busy with paperwork and applications. We've seen lots of adoptions, including some of the long term cats. Yay!!

We wish you a happy and healthy and wonderful 2021. 

Happy Holidays

 From all of us to all of you. 

A tale of two panels

 *A post by the mom

Instagram is a great place for fosters. I've seen some really great ideas for care and for room set up. 

This spring I came across a post using clear click together panels. Easily cleaned and they can configure into different (right angle) shapes.

I got more info and found put they are Tespo panels. Yay! I wandered around Amazon and finally found them.

Now.... I don't have prime but our Fairy Cat Mother does and will let me use her account. Ordered and out for delivery. 

Well the box came and it seemed small but I opened it up. 

Turns out they come in two sizes. Square and rectangle. In my hurry, I ordered the short ones. Oops....

Fortunately they served the purpose I needed. I set them up for Huzzah and her kittens. She could get over and back but no escaping kittens.

 However, I set them up for Cranberry and Blueberry and discovered that despite being little they can still get over the short ones.

 Well I'm getting some vacation time paid out from work so the tall ones will be on order.

And this time I will actually read the description. For now they are set up in the foster room cutting the room in half for the Muffin kittens to give them more space to run around but still limit HOW much space they have. So far no escapees....

Gotcha Days

 Ivy joined us in 2008.

Daiquiri joined us in 2014.

Our lives wouldn't be the same without them.

A few things

 Good news (if you missed it): Huzzah was adopted on Wednesday. Her new mom is in her early 20s and a first time cat owner, but Huzzah is a good fit. Mom got a text that the first night she was on a smaller room. Next morning she decided enough of that and slipped out into the house when the door opened. 

The Texas kittens were spayed and neutered on Friday. Sunday they got their microchips and are now at the adoption center ready to go home.

And....Hibiscus, Lantana and Verbena all got adopted!

The muffin kittens have a new version of baby jail in the living room. They have more room to bounce around. They can't get out (yet) though the girls can get in to check the food bowls for leftovers.

So baby jail 2.0 lasted about 4 hours before Cranberry realized he could climb over. We have moved on to baby jail 3.0. Mom has to clean the foster room and them they will go in there, though still in the crate for another week.

Wand toy

 Wave around a wand toy to get their attention and get group pictures. Right....sure....

At least there is video....

Updates (really)

 We got a few updated pictures recently....

The kittens formerly known as Selkie and Gargolye from the Mythical Kittens (now Jovie and Buddy). As you can see they are very helpful.

We also got an update on Langford from the Spartan Kittens now known as Quintin. He is doing well and his mom and dad are actually looking for a new companion for him. Nobody from here as they want someone closer to his age and size.

Our last update is from kittens we had back in 2014. We get an update once a year or so from their mom. They were the orange kittens here and now Ike and Izzie. Ike was diagnosed with HCM which is a heart disease. He has an electrocardiogram each year and this year they got the news that he is getting worse and they increased his meds. He could go down hill quickly or they may have more time with him - there just isn't a good way to know how he is going to do moving forward. So please spare his mom and fuzzy sister some purrs. 

Updates

 We got some updates....we thought we would share.

What is that? You heard there is something new in the house? You want to see them? OK fine...

Saturday morning, mom got a message from Miss Bernadette who write and does amazing art over at Portraits of Animals and is also very much involved in rescue in her hometown. 

Someone from near us had reached out to a friend if hers and needed help. They had found a pair of TINY kittens and weren't equipped to take care of them. 

Working together, the rescue here agreed to take them and mom picked them up Saturday night. They were found in a spot that made it pretty clear they were dumped though the lady that found them will continue to look for a mom or other kittens. 

Their teeth are just coming in. So maybe just 4 weeks old. But they are eating canned food fortunately so that's helpful. For now they are in a crate in the living room.

So cute. No idea if they have baby fuzz or if they are going to be long haired. Mom put a hesting pad in there to keep them warm. 

Oh and names: meet the Muffins - Cranberry and Blueberry. 

National Kitten Day

 Or so it says on the calendar in the kitchen

Lantana....still that odd chocolate color but he is quite the lover

Verbena and Hibiscus

They love those cubes

Phlox is a judgy girl

Probably because she isn't getting any love 

while mom takes the picture

Thankful

 A blog post from the mom

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the US. 

I think for a lot of us, you look at the surface and wonder if we have anything to be thankful for this year. I know there are people are there seriously struggling and it breaks my heart. 

The flip side of that is seeing the people quietly step forward to help. Checking on the neighbors. Supporting food banks. Giving what they can.

From a rescue perspective, while our donations have gone down some and we weren't able to hold our big annual fundraiser, there have been good things. Adoptions are actually up. We aren't getting the returns and surrenders that we feared would come in tsunami sized waves. We were able to stay open and stay safe. 

Maybe rather than listen to the news, we need to stop and listen to our friends and family and neighbors. Take hope in knowing that there are people who love others regardless of their difference. Take hope knowing that we can bring about change if we try. Take hope knowing that the small gestures can mean the most.