Year in Review - Part 2

July
  Muscari got adopted and there was some banging of fireworks in our area.

  Mom continued to work with the shy tortie girls from the tree kitten group.

  We showed you the FIV room being built for our rescue group (it is now open and cats have been adopted!!)

  We had some sad news when we learned Trillium from the flower group passed away. He was pretty sick and being cared for by another foster lady.

  Mom took a short vacation to Maine and spent some time with the cat ladies from Tails from the Foster Kittens, Love and Hisses and Whiskers in the Window. They took a shelter tour while they were there.

  Mom continued to work with the tree kittens. And Cedar got adopted!

And toward the end of the month, we were joined by the Patriot Girls - Liberty and Freedom.

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August
  Ivy turned 8 years old and Tommy celebrated his 11th Gotcha Day.

  Amaryllis got adopted and we added a couple of kittens for a short period of time.

 We celebrated our 7th blogoversary!

  Did a little TNR.

  Sherlock got into trouble and adopted all on the same day.

 The beer kittens showed up as fosters.

 Mom completed another change to the foster room.

  And then Marilyn and her kittens moved in as well.

  Daiquiri turned 2 years old.  Fiona the feral momma cat and her kittens joined us. And then Wheat made an appearance to join the beer kittens.

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September

  Mom continued to get her baby fix from Marilyn's boy - Russell and Monroe while we tried to figure out what to do with Fiona and her kittens.

  Hops got adopted!! And the brandy kittens finally got their names.

  Spud celebrated a birthday, Barley went to the adoption center and we got a new girl kitten.

  Things got bad locally here when the county dog shelter screwed up in a major way.

  There was a kitten report about Wheat, Saldano and the brandy kittens and Marilyn's boys.

  Mozart celebrated a birthday.

  The brandy kittens had some health issues but continued to do ok and every foster kitten was well.

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October

  Mom was on her way to the annual fundraiser when a young orange cat wandered up to her (isn't that how it always works?). She picked him up, took him to the rescue and named him Waffles. He has since been adopted.

  Mom continued on working to get Liberty and Freedom socialized. Tommy celebrated a birthday. And Marilyn and the kittens moved to the foster room.

  The kittens continued to do well and loved having more space.

  Unfortunately, mom came home from work one afternoon and discovered that Monroe had crossed Rainbow Bridge.

  Dandelion came back as a foster. (sigh) The kittens got a new toy and continued to do well. Sumac got adopted and the brandy kittens started turning white. We also learned that Hemlock passed away in her sleep at the adoption center.

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November

  All the kittens continued to do very well, though the brandy kittens took their sweet time gaining weight. Russell and Saldano finally did make weight and headed up to the adoption center.

  Wheat went home with her new family and Marilyn went off to a partner store to look for hers.

  We continued on the v-e-t adventure with Dandelion to figure out what is going on with him.

  The brandy kittens were the only ones left in the foster room and got themselves a castle.

   Mom took the brandy kittens out in public. Kirsch and Calvados made it over 2 pounds and were scheduled for surgery as well.

  Russell and Saldano were adopted!! (not together) Marilyn also got adopted!!

  Cassis came and joined the foster group.

  The brandy kittens temporarily joined the kitten fight club. There was a BIG adoption event over the Thanksgiving weekend. Mom was at a couple of remote locations. Kirsch and Calvados were both adopted that weekend (not together).

  There was an update on the patriot girls as we pushed to try to find them a home.
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December

  The patriot girls went to one of our local partner stores when a cage opened up.

  Dandelion was tested and vetted and we still don't have any good answers about his snot.

  We won a new piece of cat furniture.

  The remaining two brandy kittens continued to do well.

  At 4 months old, Chambord finally made weight to get spayed and then shortly thereafter went to the adoption center. She went home on 12/23.

 We wished you all a Merry Catmas.
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Thank you as always for being our friends and following along on our adventures. We love having your purrs and support for the good and the bad times. We wish you all a happy and healthy 2017!!

Numbers: 26 kittens this year. There are still 4 left to be adopted: Dandelion, Liberty and Freedom, and Cassis. We did have 4 kittens pass away. Everyone else is adopted.
  

Dear Fiona

Dear Fiona:

We wish we could explain to you why you were caught and then put in a big crate with your kittens.

We wish that we could explain to you that living in a house with a family is a good thing.

But sometimes that just isn't meant to be the case.

We do make you this promise.....we will take VERY good care of your kittens.
We will raise them and help find them loving homes.

Love, your short term foster family


**note from the mom: the plan originally was to move the kittens in with Marilyn (the other momma car) over the long weekend. That went fine. Fiona has gotten more and more stressed over the last week - the minute I would enter the foster space (the door has a creak), she would start to growl. She never lunged at me when I opened the crate to clean her box or feed her but I suspect it was only a matter of time. She did swat at me once through the back of the crate however when I was moving something and got too close.

However, getting her caught and spayed didn't quite go as planned. I had the trap upstairs Tuesday morning with the intent of getting her to go in and then dropping her off at the clinic. Instead, she shot out of the crate. Around the foster room, up the curtains, across the large shelving unit and eventually up the screen door....and into the condo. CRAP! I tried to corner her by the front door but no luck. She got cornered by the TV, but I am by no means dumb enough to stick my hands any where near her.

Eventually I got her back downstairs and herded her into the garage. Thinking later, I had her pinned behind a table in the entry way and might have been able to get her into the trap, but let's be honest - it was early, I was now hot and sweaty, and honestly, my blood pressure was probably through the ceiling after a couple of fly bys from her.  I set the trap in garage and went to work hoping a couple of hours of calm and quiet would work in my favor. I went back home, taking lunch early (if you can get a feral in a trap to the clinic before noon, they can be done same day) but no luck.

Here is where I make a hard confession: I am certain she somehow managed to get out of the garage. I left the trap and food in there with the door closed for 2 day. The food was never touched....and she was always willing to eat. Hopefully she will stick around....there is food, water and shelter available in the garage. Hopefully Allie will find her and they can be a pair. I will keep my eyes open and keep setting the trap in the hopes of catching her. I just feel like I failed her in that final step....but I will keep trying.

random Fridays

We wish you nice weather for open windows and less rain for those getting hit by storms.
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If you are going to be around central Ohio on Sunday, mom and the rescue will be at a Vegan Popup Market from 12-4pm with the beer boys (Wheat won't be going - she is too small to be spayed yet and mom doesn't want to deal with a bazillion people that want the "cute kitten"). Details here
   A comment just pointed out there was no address in the link: It's All Natural 1360 Cherry Bottom Road, Gahanna, OH 43231  (sorry about that - no idea how they posted an event and didn't think to put the address)

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not sure what is funnier, the facepalm or the expression on Russell's face

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seriously, there is a momma cat and 3 kittens in that picture...

Our goal is to leave the kittens with Fiona as long as we can. However, we have to consider her stress as well. If she gets too stressed being crated and in the house, she can stop caring for the kittens. She has started randomly growling both at mom and just in general. We have to weigh any risk to mom, to us, to her kittens and to Fiona herself in deciding when she is released.
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take a deep breath

*a post from the mom

Some of my friends know part of this story, but here is the whole thing.

Just over a couple of weeks ago, a friend I volunteer with mentioned that she had seen some kittens on a construction site (she works for the city water department). We talked about options and I offered her my trap to catch the family. I figured a rescue that focuses on TNR would be a good fit and that under the circumstances I would be ok getting permission after the fact. And I got the go ahead a couple of days later.

Unfortunately the mom cat moved the kittens, but after several attempts (and keeping in mind my friend isn't on site every day so that slowed everything down), the kittens were found last Tuesday (a week ago now) and the mom cat was caught later that day.

Mom is tiny, black, fuzzy and feral. No doubt about the feral thing either.... the hope was maybe she was scared and had been abandoned, but she has been calling me names from the start.

The mom cat got flea meds on the way to the house and the kittens got a bath once we were all home. They are SO tiny....their teeth are coming in and based on the timeline, they have to be at least a month old. I know this is going to be a battle. 3 black kittens, 1 gray one. There was a fifth one, but a driver had seen the mom cat drop it as she was presumably moving kittens over a week before we caught the rest of the family and took it home with him - their family has had bottle babies before and I got an update last Thursday that the kitten is doing well and they are going to keep him (or her).

Tuesday night was a long one. The gray kitten started going downhill and I pulled him out. I sat with him and tried to warm him up and get him to eat with no luck. I finally took him into the bathroom where I had moved Marilyn and her kittens when I put the feral mom in the large crate. Marilyn took to the baby right away, but I knew his chances were slim. I kept checking on everyone during the night. It is hard to get a feel for the other kittens since I can't really see them if they are curled up with each other or with mom - it is just one black blob.

Unfortunately, the gray kitten passed away Tuesday night. Considering his condition, I wasn't surprised, but it still hurts to know that I couldn't save him.

Wednesday was a long day. I tried to move the web cam so I could see in the crate, but managed to actually disconnect the camera somehow, so that was a bust. (it is back online now [more or less] and I am NOT moving it ever again - haha) I work about 20 minutes from home (if traffic is moving) so running home at lunch isn't an option. 

I finally made it home after work. I went into the foster room and the kittens were quiet. Knowing I wanted to check on them, I still hesitated. It was the ultimate moment we face as fosters: if you don't check, you don't know; but if you don't check, you can't get bad news. 

I pulled up the sheet covering the crate and 3 little black kittens were walking around and started meeping when they saw the light.

I put my head down on the crate and took the first deep breath of the day.

They still may not make it. I know that. They are so tiny and fragile. They are older than Marilyn's kittens but about about half their size. I will have an update later in the week as decisions are made about how to keep them going. The issue for the moment is that I can't reliably get my hands on them since their momma is very freaked out.

Oh - and as for mom....there is another city site that actually built a shelter for their ferals (YAY). Mom cat will be spayed and ear tipped and moved down there. Ideally she would be taken back to her original location, but this other site is much safer and she will be watched over there as well.

the name Fiona has been running around in my head, 

so that is the name mom will have from now on

No names for the kittens yet....