Small changes

 Detour has moved back with Miss Heather for more bootcamp. Least freedom, more contact.

The rescue is hosting a shy cats for shy people event in 2 weeks and we are hoping she can attend.

Mom took the day off on Friday and went to Cincinnati. Among other things she and her friend stopped at Purrfect Day Cat Cafe. This is Charlotte. 

It is a lovely set up, they support 3 different rescues and everyone was super nice.

Fromage and the cheeses continue to do well. The kittens can now hear so mom feels bad when she walks in talking and wakes them all up. They will be 3 weeks old on Tuesday. Probably won't be too long before they discover the door to the crate.

2 weeks old

 Time flies. Mom and kittens are doing well. Ricotta is just over 300 grams and the rest are over 275 grams. Eyeballs open and starting to march around a little bit. Fromage is spending time snoozing outside the crate so she's clearly comfortable. 

In some fun news, mom has been looking for a new cat tree to put in the back bedroom. She found one at Aldi and liked it so much she bought a second one for the living room. She's hoping with some padding and the steps that Buttons will be able to get up to window level since she no longer ger has access to the sliding doors with the foster room closed. 

Otherwise we are enjoying some nice weather and nice quiet days. Unless mom is yelling at those basketball guys on the TV. 

New kittens

 We got a mom and kittens on Tuesday to foster for the rescue.

Momma cat was a littke freaked out when she got here. The kittens were born Monday evening. Tuesday the rescue picked her up along with another mom and kittens and a 9 month old kitten as well. The situation was a bit of a mess so we are just happy they are out of it and safe. 

Momma cat calmed down after about 36 hours and the kittens were doing pretty well. Two brown tabby and three white with gray spots on their heads. 

We are going with a cheese theme. Mom eill be Fromage. The tabby kittens are Burrata and Ricotta. The whites will be Feta, Brie and Gouda. No genders yet as they are pretty little. 

Unfortunately Burrata started doing poorly on Saturday and passed away that afternoon. Turns out Fromage is under 2 years old and this is her third (and last) litter of kittens. 

The other kittens seem to be doing well but we are being super cautious. They get weighed twice a day and checked on often. Ricotta's eyes have already started to open.

The other mom and kittens are with our friend Heather. They are named after types of wine. (Cause we think we are all pretty funny) Not entirely sure how everyone is related but of that group one is white with a gray spot on his head and there are brown and gray tabby with one solid gray. Pretty sure their family tree is a straight line. 

Poor Detour

 Mom has been trying to work with her but Detour's nails are just so sharp. Our friend Heather came over Sunday and caught Detour and trimmed all her nails. Detour wasn't happy but everyone is happier that her nails are shorter.

The sun has been out and the weather nice so there were open windows and happy cats. It's not going to last but we are enjoying it while we can. 

Sunbathing

 We've had a few nice days here though it is still winter. But we are soaking up as much sun as we can. 

Also we got a new scratcher box that is good for playing 

Slower time of year

 The rescue took in their first mom and kittens so we suspect it won't be long. But for now the rescue has more shy adults so there is conversation about how to market them.

Detour is still hanging around here. She's great with us but still not sure about mom. The plan for now is to have her go back with Miss Heather for more intense social boot camp.

We got fooled by a few nice weather days that allowed mom to crack open a couple of windows. But of course it is only February so it's back to cold and snow. 

Mom has a small space heater under her desk to keep her feet warm. It is becoming Buttons' favorite spot.

Don't worry mom is careful that Buttons doesn't get too close but it does have a safety feature that turns it off if it gets tipped over.

Otherwise it's going well here. Mom is making a list of things to do and get to be ready for kittens. We are jsting waiting for spring.

Adoption news

 First we got an update on Roundabout and she's doing great. We didn't hear about a new name but presume they changed it. 

Also...Traffic Cone has been adopted. He went home on Sunday. Nice couple with a 4 year old cat so fingers crossed they get along and TC adjusts quickly. But they talked about it and understand his background so will give him the time he needs. 

That leaves us with Operation crack the calico. Detour has gotten up on the bed and slept there so that's a good sign. It will be interesting to see what she does without RC being here. But getting on the bed was his first indication of being more social so hopefully it works for her as well. 

Otherwise we are doing well. We do need to have mom go house shopping though because ours officially broke down. 

Updates

 If you missed it on our social media, Roundabout was adopted on Tuesday. Her new family has an 8 month old kitten and two dogs. No updates so we hope all is going well.

It's been very cold here (and lots of places in the US) this week so we have been staying warm. 

Traffic Cone is coming out of his shell. He has started sleeping on the bed and is letting mom walk up and pet him pretty consistently. He doesn't get up on her lap but that's ok. She has been able to pick him up as well. He has developed a funny game of following her around and softly wrapping at her ankles. 

Detour is out and about. So far not much progress petting her but at least she's not hiding. And it's all good information to give potential adopters.

Otherwise we are all doing well abd hope the same for all of you. 

Snowed in Sunday

 Mom says work from home is great but no snow day for her tomorrow. We might end up with about 10-12 inches in total. A lot of places including schools are closed tomorrow. Better to be safe - especially when it is also super cold. 

We decided to spend the weekend being warm. Please check on your neighbors and outdoor animals. 

When mom opened the door Buttons actually growled at the snow. Hahaha 

________________

Mom does want to send all her love to the people of Minnesota. She spent a lot of time on her phone Saturday and was very upset by things. 

Progress

 Mom took Roundabout to an adoption event on Saturday. She wasn't thrilled but did fairly well (and did ok in a cage with her sister Detour whom she hasn't seen in a while). 

Plus while she ran and hid when they got home she came back out pretty quickly and was just as friendly as before. She's already listed on the rescue's website as available but mom is more confident Roundabout is ready for her forever home.

Traffic Cone is making progress. Turns out he is kind of food possessive so it's hard to use that as motivation. However his big safe spot is on the sofa. Mom has taken to casually walking over and while petting his head, she sits next to him. Sunday he started immediately purring when she did this and actually leaned into her. Good boy. 

Mom was concerned he was bonded to Roundabout but while he was curious when she got back from the adoption event, he wasn't frantic that she had been gone. He will need a fairly playful kitten or cat in his forever home though since he does play a little rough. 

New toy

 We had wanted one of these so when mom saw it on sale she bought one.

The kittens find it interesting. Funny enough Chanel is fascinated. But they are having fun figuring it out.

Mom got to visit Detour on Sunday. She's the sister of Roundabout and Traffic Cone but it with another foster who is better with hissy kittens. Detour is still a work in progress but mom got to hold her and she sat on the sofa for a while during the visit. Great progress. The facial expression may be another matter. Haha

Happy 2026

 Wolf got adopted on Saturday!! 

Also Haldi was adopted so all of the spice kittens are now adopted.

Traffic Cone and Roundabout are now out in the house during the day and in the foster room at night. They play pretty rough which annoys Buttons so overnight gives her a little peace. Roundabout is pretty much ready to be adopted and is on the rescue website. However, TC definitely regressed while mom was out of town. Since they do play so hard, mom is just keeping Roundabout here for the time being.