Slowly getting it

We realized we didn't give you any background on these guys. They were found near a clubhouse for an apartment complex. Fortunately they are still young enough that they can be socialized.

Kohlrabi (one spot) and Brussel Sprout are already friendly and purr the minute they get attention.

More than one way to

protect your meal

Suspicious

Giant flirt

Kale was the next nut to crack. Mom spent some time with her on Sunday and got Kale to purr and relax.

Napa and Savoy are still working on warming up. BUT they've stopped hissing and don't run when mom pets them during meals. She wraps them up for some hands-on attention too. They don't relax during that yet but it's not too far off.

Unfortunately they seem to have kitty colds. Most likely from stress. Mom has to medicate them twice a day which is helping them like her more though. 

Meet the kittens

There was some suggestions made on social media for name themes. Our friends Amy and Emily suggested salad or veggies. After checking the Google and the rescue database, mom decided to name the after types of cabbage. They do have lots of layers....haha

Torbie. Short hair. Female.

Kale

Buff and white. Short hair. Female.

Brussel Sprout

Orange and white. Short hair. Male.

Kohlrabi

Orange and white. Short hair. Males.

Napa and Savoy

Sprout and Kohlrabi have started coming around. Still a little hand shy but already purring. Kale is still unsure but not too bad.

Napa and Savoy are still pretty spicy. They are hissy if mom gets too close or reaches for them, but all noise. They are getting the purrito treatment and should be much better soon. 

Mom has been sitting on the floor with their dish right in front of her when they get canned food. They have to come to her to eat and she can reach out touch them as they eat. 

About her ear

**a post by the mom

As most of you know, Goldfish came here as a foster and failed to leave. In her case it was a behavioral thing as she was (and kind of still is) very skittish and it would have been a hard sell to find her a family when most people look for the super social cat to adopt.

She was spayed and ear tipped as a kitten as at that point we weren’t sure about her final destination. I hadn’t made the decision yet to keep her and if she needed to move to a barn she needed the ear tip.

Over the last year or so I have heard several people make negative comments about ear tipping, generally that is changes the way they appear. I try my best to explain why it is done. Many years ago it started as a universal signal that a feral or community cat has been spayed or neutered. The alternative before that was to take the cat back to vet, which would include transport, sedation and potential unnecessary surgery if a spay scar could not be found. With ear tipping, if you see a cat with it, all you have to do is open the trap and release them. It is easier on the cat and easier on the trapper.

One woman got a little snippy and I honestly told her that I view it as a badge of honor. The ear tipped cats living in homes or at our adoption center looking for homes survived the outdoors and proved to be friendly enough to be adoptable.

I also have Allie who is truly feral. I call her my garage panther. She is ear tipped and in fact has been caught and released at least twice since she was originally spayed.

I had one woman tell me that no cat should be tipped and be kept inside. I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking how big her house is if she plans to house all those feral cats.

I believe they deserve the best life they can have without the stress of fighting and breeding. Spay/neuter solves both of those problems. 

Move them out, move them in

First good news: Whisk and Kettle were ADOPTED on Thursday together!! Nice family with 2 young boys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course it is that time of year when rescues are up to their ears in kittens. After doing laundry and cleaning the foster room, we reloaded. The rescue has a lot of spicy kittens....some more spicy then others. The goal is to get them into foster homes to get them socialized. We took in a new crew.

There 3 boys and 2 girls. The boys are all orange and white, the girls a torbie and a buff and white. Mom says they are only mildly spicy and will probably come around pretty quickly. No names yet. It usually takes a few days to come up with a good theme.

Be sure to click on the link in our header for the foster cameras. They are having a good time running around.

It's that time

Surgery went well on Monday. Everyone came back slightly grumpy and very hungry. Ree was very unhappy with the small portion of food for a snack and proceeded to bang on the food container and howl until mom gave them more to eat.

Since that is done though and they are all healthy, they are headed to the adoption center today to find their forever homes. We know the kittens will go quickly and hope the same for Ree.

Final official surgery weights: Kettle 3 pounds 1 ounce. Spatula 2 pounds 9 ounces. 2hisk 2 pounds 5 ounces.

Ree weighed in at 6 pounds 11 ounces and they estimate her age at about 1 1/2 years old.

Cute

They don't even have to try...

Everyone is scheduled for surgery today. Paws crossed it all goes well. Kittens get adopted quickly and we hope momma cat Ree does too. They will most likely go to the adoption center on Wednesday.

Weigh ins

Well....they have all hit weight. If you know anyone interested in adopting near Ohio, speak now. Just have to get their surgeries scheduled.

Spatula is the middle weight

2 pounds 5 ounces

Kettle is the resident

heavy weight at

2 pounds 10 ounces

Madame Tinycat??

2 pounds 3 ounces

Fun and games

Also known as, how the boys make their sister howl:

Poor Ree

This is what happens when the kids find your spot.

Cuties

The kittens are probably about 10ish weeks old now. New weights as of last night: Kettle 2 pounds 5 ounces; Spatula 2 pounds 2 ounces; Whisk 1 pound 14 ounces (so close).

Ree is just so super sweet. Mom can cut her nails and hold her like a baby. In fact the only time we've seen her get wound up was when Daiquiri broke in the other day looking for canned food. Space...fine, kittens...whatever, canned food...get out!

The kittens are doing great. Super sweet, playful and outgoing. Kettle is our go with the flow guy. Whisk is our mastermind. Spatula....well as least he's cute. Hahaha

Need to get surgery dates set for everyone but the little one.

We did a thing

Mom launched a t-shirt campaign to raise some awareness and some funds.

Back in February, mom was talking to Miss Julie of Cats Herd You (and Cupcake's mom) and it was mentioned that a vet on TV was going to be at a convention in Florida. This vet has been called out for declawing and mom and Julie said they should make signs "save the murder mittens".

Then mom got an application recently to adopt a pair of kittens from the rescue and the woman was insistent she planned to declaw.

The rescue is against declawing. Many countries have banned it. Yet it is still legal in the US. More people are getting educated. Some vet offices refuse to do it. But it can still be done.

Can you raise awareness with a sense of humor? We think so (or maybe mom just cracks herself up). She couldn't find a graphic she liked to use. But she had that picture of Chanel. We reached out to Miss Yasaar at Chirpy Cats to see if she could draw something. This was the first draft. She went back and added a tail.

Now we have a t-shirt campaign on Bonfire. Save the Murder Mittens with Chanel. All profits go to Colony Cats. We are hoping to raise enough to cover the medical/surgery cost for the kitchen kittens.

Words have power

We all know what has been going on in the world for the last few months, but more specifically in Minneapolis and the rest of the U.S. over the last week.

It is heartbreaking.

As a writer, I feel like I should say something.

As a human being, I'm at a loss.

But I do know this: we need change. At all levels. It starts with one person....say something, do something.