*a post from the mom
I was out of town for Christmas and my friend Heather was babysitting Mike. Her partner is and artist and they helped Mike create a painting for me using pet safe paint.
I love it.
Of course, Mike being Mike, the clean up didn't go smoothly so he still has some leftover paint.
Let's see: all the kittens are still here. Chickpea is on a different medication for her nasal issues. Buster is on the rescue website and ready to go. Mike will go on the website soon (mom is concerned about him getting adopted for the wrong reason during holiday excitement so we are waiting to post him). And Horton is just waiting to be 2 pounds and get added to the surgery list.
In the meantime, they are being fairly lazy:
We are SO far behind....sorry
First: all of the noodle kittens are back at the rescue. Everyone has bern adopted except Gnocchi and Manacotti (who is being treated for a cold). Even Farfalle the momma cat!!
We added a new single kitten that the trapper named Horton. He is super sweet and just needs to get big enough for surgery. Baloo does treat him like a cat toy though which he does not fund amusing.
Everyone else is doing mostly well. We are dealing with some things with Chickpea - she has some sinus issues going on we need to get figured out and resolved. Buster is up on the rescue website and Mike will get posted soon.
Otherwise, mom is working from home and buried in rescue paperwork while we take it easy.
All 5 kittens had their surgeries yesterday.
Turns out mom may need remedial kitten classes. Buster and Mike....are both girls. Oops.
Everyone is doing well. Gnocchi and Rigatoni will head up to the adoption center. Mike and Chickpea are both on meds for upper respiratory stuff. Buster will go online but hang here for a little bit.
And yeah gonna have to fix the names.
Also....pictures of wobbly kittens are hard
The rest of the kittens go for spay/neuter surgery on Thursday.
Mom was kitten sitting some bottle babies on Saturday. Baloo was pretty curious.
Mike and Buster have been getting along great. However Sunday morning Buster got out of the pen so he ended up in the foster room with the other kittens. Mom is thinking about a rug in there so Mike can be in there too.
The screen doors blocking off the foster room work about 90% of the time. The other 10% mom spends chasing kittens off the top of the doors and around the condo. She had originally blocked off the lower 2/3 of the doors - to keep kittens off the screens and block sight lines.
However, certain enterprising kittens have managed to jump that distance. Mom had been reluctant to cover more of the doors. If you look in the top left corner of the first picture, those are sliding doors in the dining room. This allows a lot of light into our condo as the only other window in the living room is the second picture and we don't get a lot of sunlight throughout the day.
Choices choices.....less light or loose kittens?? Erring on the side of less kittens in the house running loose, mom thought about how to block it off. Well, with $4 worth of post board, we are hoping this does the trick.
With there being less light coming in from the sliders, in addition to winter and the time change, mom bought some lights to go around the front window. Just to add a little cheer. So far so good. She did get smart and bought the plastic outdoor lights, so here's hoping they survive the gray monster.
Mom got 2 of the boys on the surgery schedule and that means Fava and Manacotti went up to the adoption center on Saturday. Favs made it 30 minutes before he was adopted.
Manacotti is still up there but hopefully his family shows up soon.
The rescue did get a call about another wobbly kitten. Since we have Mike, the new guy came here on Sunday. He seems to have a very mild case of CH....and a major case of the grumpy. He gets around very well, his head barely bobbles. And he spent the first part of his day here growling at every cat he saw.
*a post by the mom
Among the other things I do for the rescue, I process applications and contracts. Recently a juvenile (about 7 months old) male kitten was adopted, returned, adopted and returned. All no fault of his own - the first adopter was over 70 years old and after having him for a couple of weeks decided he had too much energy. The other couple own a restaurant and decided after a few days they didn't have enough time for a pet.
It's hard not to be judgmental. I get that people want pets. I think pets enrich our lives. But I really wish more people would do a little research and put some thought into it.
Thankfully we do not do same day adoptions, so we have taken the "spontaneous" adoption issue out of the picture.
I honestly think that the whole "cats are an easy pet" myth is part of the issue. People seem to think that they adopt a cat and it will lay around their house all day and not be much work. We work very hard to mitigate that myth but yet it persists.
For whatever reason as well, people seem to think that the volunteers with our rescue don't seem to know what we are talking about. We will try to give them advice and point them in a direction and yet they will insist that they know best. If we truly believe the cat will be in danger, we can refuse the adoption, but sometimes we have to let them fail.
The best advice I give people coming in to adopt is to take your time and let the cat pick you. Have a seat and see who comes over and wants attention. See who catches your eye or who asks for pets. Don't base it on the picture on the website. Prepare to be surprised.
The thing that I don't think people really take into consideration is that it takes time to adjust to change for these animals. It can take a few days up to a few months for ANY pet to adjust to a new home and new schedules. Plus it is can be so hard for cats to be adopted and then returned. They don't understand why their world has been turned upside down so many times.
Things to consider:
1. Pets are a lifetime commitment. This can be 15 to 20 years. Through weddings and dating and kids and moving....you make a commitment to that pet.
2. Kittens are nuts. There is just no way to get around that. Getting a pair can help and we will suggest that - at least they have each other to play and wear each other out. But they will get into things. They will test gravity. They will wake up in the middle of the night.
3. All pets need work. Cats will need daily care. They need mental stimulation. They need annual medical care and vaccines.They get sick and may need emergency care and that can be expensive.
4. They need love and affection. Life doesn't exist in a vacuum. The more you put into the relationship, the more you get out of it.
That said, I certainly understand that life can be hard and pets need to be returned. All we ask is that you try to make it work, try to find that pet friendly apartment, try to take an allergy medication. And don't lie to us about why you are returning a pet....we've been doing this long enough to know better.
Before even sending in the application, think about these things: cost of supplies, cost of medical care, time during the day you have to commit to a pet. If you rent, have you checked with your landlord to be sure you can have a pet. Are the pets in your home up to date on wellness care and vaccines per your vet?
Before you bring them home: do you have supplies? Do you have a carrier? Do you have a safe space set up for them in your house with their things where they can spend at least the first few days?
There is no rush. There are plenty of adoptable cats out there. Make sure you have your life and priorities ready and in place before adding to your family. Then reach out to your local rescue and be prepared to bring home some love.
It was cold and chilly here on Sunday. Mike decided he wanted nothing to do with it so he stayed on bed (he likes to borrow under the water proof mat for whatever reason that makes him happy).
Mom had been doing some research on how to help Mike gain some independence.
For example he can stand up to eat but mostly if mom puts a hand under him to keep him from falling over. She had seen a few things online and contacted a local plastics company for help.
Mike's new tunnel:
It is made from acrylic and is heavy enough he can't tip it over. The box has to be in there for now since mom "might" have gotten the dimensions wrong. She also needs to rig something across the front so he doesn't fall out.
But....it will help him stand up while giving him enough room to wobble some and build up his muscles.
The Beans and the Noodles all got their first vaccines. Some eye boogers going on in there but nothing serious. Mom is saying she needs to get more dishes cause she gets run over on there at mealtime.
Baloo enjoyed some cooker weather this weekend:
Mike is a joy. There are waterproof pads in his own and he makes his own cave system. Mom did order some silicone bowls for him to use since she worries about him banging his head on the dishes as he eats.
While having the panels set up in the living room takes up space, it is allowing mom to keep an eye on Mike. He's doing well. He is getting stronger and figuring everything out.
There is a waterproof pad folded over in the pen. He loves to climb under half and play.
Chanel and Baloo spend the most time watching him. Baloo will get in there more and likes to try to play.
Mom was at the rescue last night when a nice lady showed up with an adult cat and a kitten. The other volunteer grabbed mom and asked her to take a look.
Turns out the lady's neighbor was just going to leave both of them outside. Which is bad enough. Except the kitten is about 6 weeks old....and has cerebellar hypoplasia (CH). He wouldn't have survived 5 minutes on his own.
Plus he was covered in fleas. So he got a snack and a bath. He also got the once over and a name with a cat in our intake department named King.
Another volunteer took him overnight but he now with us since she was unsure about giving him enough supervision with her hours.
He is set up in the living room now. We have all checked him out and we will see how this goes. Right now it's hard to tell how severe he is since he is young. Hopefully a few weeks and we will have a better idea. Either way he is a happy boy and super cute.
We are going with a noodle theme. Mom is named Farfalle. She should be available for adoption in the next couple of days.
Mom put numbers in their ears yesterday in an attempt to figure out who was who and took pictures. Then she realized she has welping collars that are velcro and will come off, so 4 of the 6 are now wearing those.
The cold airs came back after a couple of days and the repair guy coming to visit. Chanel of course was sure she needed to help so she got put in time out.
Mom realized yesterday morning that she hadn't seen Chutney over night. Turns out she snuck into the foster room when mom fed the kittens last night and didn't come back out.
The new kittens are named after noodles: Orzo, Fuscilli, Gnocchi, Cavatelli, Rigatoni, Manicotti (we know this is the male brown tabby). Mom has to grab them to get individual pictures so they can get named and posted here.
Otherwise things are pretty much the same here as always.
The cold air machine decided to break. Mom was at least it's not July here but it's warm. And we live on the 2nd floor of the building so it's not so nice here. Mom has all the fans on high and ice cubes in the water dishes. And the repair guy is coming tomorrow.
In the meantime we are making her feel guilty:
With a mom and six kittens in the foster room and the beans in the living room, there is never a dull moment around here (though ok they do sleep a lot).
The newbies are definitely little for their ages. They are pretty mobile and their eyes are no longer that bright blue. We are guessing about 6 weeks old. But they are all probably right around a pound, so little. Although mom is little so there's that to consider as well.
