Weekend report

 Well mother nature was weird last week. It was very hot mid week (mid to high 90s) then mid 70s this weekend. We also lost power Tuesday afternoon until early Wednesday morning and it got pretty warm in the condo. Luckily it came back before mom had to make decisions about how we were handling it. 

Our balcony has flowers again the year. It's not covered so it gets warm for mom to sit out there much but the flowers are pretty. And we have a bird feeder to so Mike gets a show.

However with the windows and sliding door open, the Arizona kittens had a good time climbing the screen door.

And Mike got some fresh air and quality bird time.

But of course it got hot again so we are back to closed windows and the cold air machine

Escapees

 We knew it was coming. And yesterday morning it happened: 2 kittens escaped the foster room.

Yep, that's Winslow and Sedona. Mom wasn't very happy that they decided to nap UNDER her chair though. 

The tabby boys haven't figured it out yet, but it's probably only a matter of time. Thankfully they understand the sound of the food can opening so they come running for dinner. Plus they are super friendly 

Gotcha

 Mom and her friend took the cat they trapped on Sunday back after surgery on Monday. The goal was to try to catch the momma cat longing to the kittens they got Sunday. Well, in record time Sparkie was in the trap. She is now back with her babies and taking good care of them. She's a little scared but should be adoptable. 

Mom is a tortie and very young....maybe 7 no the old. 4 kittens, 3 girls and 1 boy. 2 black, 1 tortie and a gray.

Oh and mom finally got video of Chanel chasing her tail. 

Adventures

 Everyone here is doing well. Mike and the kittens are getting along pretty well. She gets a little frustrated when they get wound up, but otherwise they are good.

Mom did have an adventure on Sunday. A friend of a friend has some cats she is caring for and of course there are now kittens. Mom and her friend went down and got the younger group of kittens. They then tried to catch mom who isn't feral but is very cautious. No luck. So H is gping to bottle feed and we will try again. But they did catch the other momma (her kittens are older and will be ok until later today) so she's being spayed and released. Then it will be attempt 3 catching the momma cat they need. 

Jail break

 In less than a week, the kittens have cleared the panels. Mom heard a strange noise on Saturday and there sat 2 kittens behind the airlock gate. Oh well....at least it was a few days for everyone to get to know each other.

Mike is a little weird about them being loose. She complains when she alone. But she also complains of they run around too fast. We suspect she would do great with an adult past the crazy stage. But she does like them when they are a little more quiet. 

Mesa and Mike

Mesa, Sedona and Bisbee

Mom planted flowers on the balcony. So the new game now is escaping kittens while she waters the plants. (So far the kittens are winning)

Newbies

 As you know if you've been following along, mom is volunteering with a new rescue. They mainly do TNR and don't have a shelter location so it's all foster base. Because of that, they limit their intake so there aren't a ton of kittens.

However, one of the volunteers found a group. They were grouped with a single kitten who was just weaned so she can learn to be a kitten appropriately.

Phoenix was the bottle baby. She's about a week younger. She was named for the mythical creature but mom decided to go with cities in Arizona.

Sedona is the only girl of the older group

Mesa

Bisbee

Winslow

They are very purry and good eaters. For now they are in a pen set up in the foster room. In a couple of weeks when they are a little bigger (or when they are big enough to escape) they can be out in the foster room.

Mike has sat and watched them a few times but seems to enjoy looking out the sliding doors more.

Weekend report

 The tuxedo boys were all neutered last Wednesday and adopted by Saturday. Yay!!

Mom left us for the weekend but for a good cause. The kid (her niece) graduated from high school. Mom isn't sure how that's possible but the kid has a diploma to prove it.

Mom also cheated on us with the kid's new puppy Koda...she just had surgery so is wearing the cone

Not her best decision

 

Mike and the boys

 We weren't sure how things would go with the smaller boys in the foster room with Mike. Turns out the answer is - it's all good. Mike was a little annoyed the first day, but she doesn't like change much. The kittens quickly learned her patterns and to get out of her way. Mike does get a little bad when the 4 of them get really wound up and running, but we've learned over the months she's been here it is mostly frustration. 

Oh the cute

 

That was not the plan

 The little kittens have been in the tespo panel pen in the living room since we got them. For several reasons, mostly that they are smol.

However, mom came home last night to find loose kittens and this:

Yep. One panel is snapped in half. So there goes that plan. And time to get new panels. There is a really nice panel system out there but it is WAY out of our price range. Maybe someday.

Which means Mike has new roommates. There was a little name calling but considering it was a rush introduction, not bad. Mom will keep an eye on everyone and see how it goes. 

Never a dull moment though.

Mike's big adventure

 

Mom decided to take Mike on an adventure this past weekend. It was warm here (finally) so she and a friend went mid morning to a nearby park. Mom put a harness and leash on Mike - not that she moves very fast but better safe than sorry. 

She did so well. They didn't stay long due to the heat, but Mike wasn't fazed by the sounds or anything else going on around them.

Honestly, she was mostly interested in having two people pay attention completely to her. She snuggled up with mom and crawled in her friend's lap for some love as well. It just reinforced to mom that Mike needs her own people.

Of course after that much excitement, it was time for a nap. 

**Mike is looking for her forever home. She cannot be around steps - her balance is just not good enough to keep her safe. But she is fine with other cats or by herself and would be great as an apartment cat. Mom says she is willing to drive within 4 hours of central Ohio for the right family.

Weekend report

 Hold smoke it got warm. It was snowing last Monday and in the 80s this weekend. But warm weather means open windows so we got to enjoy warm air and a nice breeze. 

Chickpea is now officially available for adoption and is at the local Petsmart. Hopefully her new family finds her soon. 

Mom reached out to the shelter where she has volunteered for a while and offered to foster again for them. So we have new kittens too. They are probably 6 weeks old but SMOL so we may have them for a little while.

Four boys, all tuxedos and very friendly!! 

An empty trap

 

As someone in rescue who works within the realm of TNR, this happens. Picking up an empty trap from the spay/neuter clinic. 

A cat was trapped but had severe injuries and the best decision the rescue could make for him was to end his suffering. It is never an easy decision and no one takes it lightly. But rehabbing a feral cat and medicating them while keeping them confined can be nearly impossible. This is better than a long painful end he would have had outside on his own. But it still breaks our hearts to know he suffered before we trapped him.

Any rescuer will tell you the first line of rescue work is spay and neuter. It reduces the number of kittens and it also reduces fighting amongst tom cats. 

Did you dilute that torbie?

 A post by the mom

OK, I admit I can get a little geeky about cat facts. While I don't understand all the science behind it, the colors fascinate me. 

So to start, to get an orange cat, the male had a red gene and the female doesn't. Male kittens from this pair end up being an orange tabby. You can get an female orange tabby about 25% of the time. 

For female cats, you get a calico, tortieshell or torbie (calico with tabby stripes). About 1 in 3,000 can be male so they are fairly rare (and due to genetics to get the color tend to be sterile). 

A "true" calico is orange, black and white. A "true" tortieshell is orange and black - no white.

Then you can get a dilute - a washed out version if you will. Dilute calicos will be peach, gray and cream while dilute torties will be gray and peach.

So then a torbie.....fiest let's talk about the name. I've heard this color variety called a callitabby, tabbico or torbie. Technically the first two would be more accurate as they are calicos with tabby stripes. A torbie would be a tortieshell with stripes - something I've never seen ( which doesn't mean it doesn't exist). However, the torbie term seems to be the one most commonly used though they are interchangeable. 

This is Ivy. She is truly a torbie: brown and black stripes, patches of orange stripes and white patches. 

I had a friend ask me about Chickpea and if you could get a dilute torbie. Which would make genetic sense, but I had to really think about it. Honestly before Chickpea, I dint think I had seen one. But she is peach and gray and white with stripes. Tada: dilute torbie. 

So there you go - my short geeky moment of calicos, tortieshells and torbies. 

In case you want to read more, there is a good article on Love Meow

Ivy and the box

 Mom ordered some stuff and Ivy claimed the box. 

So mom decided it needed a sign. 

Chanel has been in it a couple of times but normally Ivy is the occupant. 

She so cute.

Foster kitten update

 We still have Chickpea and Mike. 

Chickpea has seen a surgeon and he felt a polyp at the back of her soft palate. So that will need to be surgically removed and then she will be available for adoption.

We suspect that we just haven't found the right person looking for a Mike to add to their lives. ROCK is going to put him on their Facebook page, so if you feel like sharing, we would appreciate it. Mom loves Mike but this is not the right place to be his forever home. 

Chickpea has discovered a new game. It's called "annoy Mike". She jumps back into the Foster room, runs around, pokes Mike, get her wound up, then leaves. 

A case of the goofies

 The joy of cats is sometimes the weirdest thing gets them wound up. For Chanel it doesn't take much....

Happy 5th Birthday Chanel aka Crash and to her sister Cupcake at Cats Herd You

Oh yeah....the lid? Goldfish found it somewhere in the morning and it was a hit all day. 

New cat bed

 Mom bought a new cat bed. She had been seeing these fuzzy beds. Turns out this one is a little smaller than she would have expected. But she still thought it was cute so it was put out in the living room.

There was investigating:

Took another couple of days for anyone to try to sleep in it. Chanel was a sort of fail.

 

 

 And finally yesterday Junior decided it was comfy and declared it good. YAY!!!

Monday again?