Never a dull moment.....

Mom is SO fired.....

She missed Mo's Gotcha Day yesterday. Sheesh.....she would leave her head some place if it weren't screwed on. Mozart has been a part of the family for 6 years - he started as a foster and mom went to the shelter and adopted him after he had been back for a week. He is the official greeter and snuggler of the family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We all know this guy......

mr "please don't even think about touching me"

Well, we all know he gives mom the wide walk around. Don't get too close - don't make eye contact. Mom has hope that SOME day she is gonna get Junior to warm up to her. We aren't gonna hold our breaths.

Anyhow, over the weekend, he started running around and shaking his head like something was bothering him. The more we watch him, the more mom got a little concerned.

Mom finally got everyone in the back room under the pretense of serving dinner. She had a towel and chased Junior around the room to catch him. We don't suggest you try this at home - in this case, the audience participation was unappreciated (mom: Junior was running around and howling, Ivy was lit up and running around and Tim was howling.....sigh).

Anyhow, mom finally caught him and wrapped him in a towel. Now, the light isn't great in that room, but his ear looked kind of nasty. She tried to clean it a little and Junior managed to escape. More chasing and she got him again. She cleaned a little bit with the edge of the towel. Not sure what was up, but there was a little blood on the towel. He isn't running around and shaking his head any more so mom isn't worried enough to call Dr. T and get her over here now. However, the first shift of the year is up in March, so Junior will get his ears cleaned. He is on the only-freak-out-the-feral-cat-every-other-year vet plan anyhow, so he would have been up for an exam. We will just add the ears to the list.

But would it be too much to ask to have things be calm for a while??? Oh well....

Has it really been a year????

Mom was looking through our archives and realized it was a year ago today that we trapped Junior. Wow....

Check out the back story: caught-us-kitten  and then junior

you aren't going to touch me are you?

He was SO freaked out when mom first caught him. First couple of days she thought she would have to just release him, but now she knows she did the right thing by keeping him - despite the "no touching" rule. She has a weak spot for kittens. :)

these other kitties aren't so bad

but you still aren't going to touch me, are you?

We know some people don't like the term "semi-feral" but mom doesn't know quite what else to call him. He was probably about 3 months old when she caught him. And she really didn't know much about socializing feral kittens. So, she feels a little guilty that he got the short end of the social stick. And while he may not have much use for mom (other than knowing she can get the food container open), he does seem to enjoy the toys, the boxes and the other cats. He was even playing with our last group of fosters Ebony and Xander - running up and down the stairs!!!

roar

(btw - he can't sleep here anymore - doesn't fit - haha)

Mom was sort of making progress with him until they had to catch him for vaccines. And then 2 weeks later to actually get his microchip in (didn't go in the first time). And then 3 months later for a blood test. Go figure he doesn't trust her much.

this is my opinion of you and the v-e-t

But, he is inside. And he is safe. And he really does love the rest of us. Mom loves his whine. Someday she needs to get it on video - it is pretty cute - and about the only noise he makes. And he is slowly warming up again. Mom caught him on the bed the other day while she was laying there before the alarm went off. He jumped down when she moved, but not when she started talking to her. baby steps.....

So, while mom may not have decided to actually "gotcha" Junior until April 2011, we are celebrating the day he was trapped today. And....for every comment, mom will donate $.50 to SOS of Ohio (through midnight tonight) to help them do more TNR (they are the group where mom took Junior, Bug and the neighborhood community cats for their spay/neuters)!!!

whatever - but mom says I have to tell you that

we will have a prize for one random comment

Poor baby....

The kittens are doing very well. Still no idea what their names are - mom is going to see if she can find their paperwork tonight. :)

The brown tabby female has figured out the gate. Mom put up the big ex-pen as the gate and by Saturday afternoon, this tiny girl was up and over and out playing. If mom is in the bathroom, she will stay, but otherwise, she is out looking for attention. In fact, yesterday morning while mom was getting ready, Junior SHOT down the hallway.....with this tiny girl hot on his heels. Mom almost fell over laughing.

The biggest girl has had mom worried. She just hasn't been playful and outgoing and in fact was acting kind of "ouchy" when mom touched her. Then Sunday morning mom noticed a red spot on the top of her head. Mom checked it again Sunday afternoon and it POPPED!!! ewwwww  Mom ended up taking her into the shelter yesterday morning to get it looked at - they shaved a spot on the top of this girl's head and cleaned it out good. Appears to be a bite wound. Poor baby....

Oh, and mom walked in there on Saturday and couldn't find this girl either.....opened drawers, and almost panicked. And then she looked up.....

Yes...she is sleeping on top of the shower door.

And for some added cuteness: