Mom bought us a new Love scratcher to replace the previous Christmas castle. We seem to prefer the two tiered ones so this is ours.
Mom bought a smaller one that will go in the foster room.
Aoili is feeling much better but not always nice to the littler kittens so the goal is to try to get her spayed asap.
The littler kittens are doing well though Chutney and Tapenade seem to be the slowest growing kittens ever!!
Gordon continues to run around the house and act like a teenager.
Some Aoili needed more space and the panels were only keeping the little girls in, mom did some rearranging over the weekend.
The panels came down, quick cleaning and Aoili was introduced to the others turns out now that she feels better she's a little skittish so mom will have to work on that with her as well as Harissa.
Turns out Tapenade and Chutney didn't need baths either. Yay!! Mom combed them out well and they look much better.
Every is doing pretty well together. The little girls love everyone. Aoili is still figuring things out. Cameron likes to sit and watch everything. Harissa is usually near the little girls.
Someone suggested #saucygirls yesterday for the kittens. I may go with #saucygirlkittens just to be safe from the weirdos on social media.
Gordon went to be neutered yesterday. Mom isn't sure what it is about the combination of meds this vet uses but every kitten cones back very HIGH.
Mom tried to leave him in the carrier for a while but got tired of the pitiful howling. Her first words were "stay off the stairs".
He did come back with meds for a kitty cold so he's here for a little bit longer.
Oh....and he weighs 4 pounds!!
So everyone know we love a good theme. In this case we think we have cute names for the girls....though mom can't think of a good hashtag.
Meet Aioli
She is our newest arrival. Found by a volunteer just sitting on a hot sidewalk. Parasites, fleas and snot. Oh my. Fortunately we are just down to meds for the snot. Once she is fine with her meds she will move to the foster room.
Meet Harisa:
OK....so you've met her before. But she needed a better name. She is still hand shy - she will duck and run if you come at her directly and too quickly. But she will come over looking for attention and relaxes pretty quickly once she's caught.
Meet Chutney and Tapenade.
Yeah....no pictures. They need a bath (again). More pictures once they are cleaned up. They are still behind the panels in the foster room but those may come down soon. They ate still pretty little but doing well. Except for that self cleaning thing but we are hoping that gets better after this next bath.
Cameron is hanging with the girls.
And of course Gordon has decided he lives in the house and his favorite game is dive bombing Chanel. She's thrilled (not).
One out....and one in.
Brigid was adopted this weekend, so that just leaves Taliesin at the adoption center (no, we don't know what is taking so dang long).
Mom decided to get the name game going.
Cameron is doing well. He and Harisa aren't always sure what to do with each other, but they seem to get along.
Gordon of course is loose in the house and having a grand time. He has learned to respect Ivy and Daiquiri. Chanel and Goldfish not so much....
Brigid went back to the adoption center. We have a juvenile room so she is in there with some space to run around. Danu, Alator and Herne have been adopted but Taliesin is in the room. They came face to face and there was much hissing. haha
Gordon let himself back out of the foster room again so he is hanging out in the condo. He is SO much better behaved. Being out gave him access to the girls and Chanel has made it very clear to him that his sass is not going to be allowed. Plus he spent about a week in the foster room with Brigid who kicked his butt regularly as well.
Everyone else in the foster room is doing well. Miss Spice is still hand shy and a little hissy, but she comes around pretty quickly once mom grabs her. In fact she took a nap on mom's lap earlier this week. Now to convince her that all approaches are ok.
The little girls are eating great but still very messy so they are still behind the panels.
It seems to be the summer of single kittens. Mom is willing to take the risk of mixing litters so she is taking the singles that need a space.
If you remember Carsen that we lost, meet his brother Cameron.
He has met all the other cats. He isn't very sure about himself yet so he has been sitting back and watching the action for the past couple of days.
Brigid clearly took offense to another black cat in the foster room when he first showed up.
Brigid will be going back to the rescue this week since her spay incision looks much better. Gordon will be neutered in the next couple of weeks. Miss Spicy is doing better. She is still hand shy if mom reaches to grab her but she warms up quickly once she's caught. In fact on Monday she wiggled out of the towel and curled up on her own and took a nap on mom while purring. AWWW
Cameron is very sweet and wants to play though he hasn't had other cat exposure of his own size so he's trying to figure the whole thing out. We doubt it will take very long before he is running around with everyone else.
The little girls continue to do well but are behind the panels for now until they grow some.
Well, most of the Celtic Kittens went to the adoption center on Saturday. Danu's spay site was swollen so she stayed here and has a vet appointment this morning.
The foster room got cleaned and reset. Gordon is now in there and the bigger Tespo panels were made into a cube for a pair of little girls.
Plus there is this:
Meet Spicy. Yes, based on her current personality. An adopter from the reacue foubd her. She's probably about 6 weeks old and very not sure about anything. However, mom has seen her on the cameras playing and trying to interact with Gordon.
We've delayed a little bit introducing the little girls. They were crated while mom kept a close eyeon them to make sure they are eating and doing ok. They were a hot mess since they ate just old enough to figure things out without a mom. Which means Sunday they got a bath;
Both brown tabby, both girls,one short hair one medium. Still deciding on names.
Well, some kitten made it OVER the panels. The good news, we get the living room back:
The bad news is there is a small gray kitten loose in the house. Not sure where he slept last night except it wasn't with mom. He could be heard running the halls occasionally but nothing bad.
Clearly being free is hard work.
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The boys from the Celtic Kittens go to be neutered tomorrow then up to the adoption center. Mom told the vet to just microchip the tabby boys and assign each ibe a nake since we still can't tell them apart. Hahaha
Hopefully the girls will go soon then mom can get the room back.
a post from the mom
There have been some changes at the rescue and I've been helping but geez I'm tired. Between work and kittens and paperwork and people texting me, I am developing a twitch.
Celtic kittens are still here until there are surgery openings. Between covid backups and kitten season, it is hard to get spots.
Gordon is doing well and feisty as ever. It helps that he purrs while he chews on me - at least he is cute. He is set up in the living room in a pen with the clear Tespo panels and Chanel is baffled on a regular basis on why she can SEE the baby but she can't TOUCH the baby.
The permanent residents are doing well. Ivy seems more comfortable so hopefully the dental bought us some time with her until she can get back in again.
So other than I need a vacation or I'm going to throw my phone out the window, it's pretty good here. Well it's hot....but it's June. haha
First some sad news: as happens in foster care when you take in strays and the very vulnerable, there are losses. Carsen died on Sunday. We didn't have him very long but he was loved. The rescue has a trapper working hard at the trailer park where he was found doing spay and neuter to break the cycle. If you would like to help, you can donate at colonycats.org using the yellow donate button on the left.
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Gordon was getting a little wild in the crate, so with the help of Miss Z the large Tespo panels were put up and he now has a bigger spot. In the middle of the living room. He and Chanel are very confused by the invisible walls. Haha
It didn't take very long for Daiquiri to figure out how to get in to raid his food dish either.
Mom did a bunch of laundry on Sunday and Gordon's lamb and in with it. He got the sniff test and then they curled up for a nap.
One of the TNR trappers for the rescue reached out to mom about a single kitten she had found. Since Gordon needs a kitty friend, mom offered to take him.
Well, turns out the new guy is about half the size of Gordon. But he is fiesty so that helps. Gordon spent the first part of the introduction treating him like a cat toy. By Thursday morning, they were getting along better. The new guy is named Carsen after the daughter of the volunteer. He needs some work but hopefully as he puts on some weight he will start kicking Gordon's butt.
There is something fosters and cat people call "single kitten" syndrome. Young kittens without a mom or siblings tend to be mouthy and pushy because they don't get bitten or slapped back.
Gordon has an evil version of it. He is SO bitey and will slap too. Mom us trying to break the habit but he gets excited and it gets worse. He may need a friend to teach him better lessons.
He can be sweet but right now no family would adopt him. He is not gentle at all.
But he is cute.
Well, not for us, but it's been a long week for mom already. She been super busy with rescue stuff.
The Celtic kittens are on meds for a minor thing but will then get on the surgery schedule and be ready to go.
Ivy had a dental yesterday that didn't go like the plan. Ivy is fine....mom isn't really happy with the surgeon (not our regular vet).
Gordon continues to grow and is totally unfazed by the girls.
Morrigan was spayed on Friday and is back at the rescue. She was making it pretty clear she was done being a momma. So when a surgery spot opened up, she was put on the list. Cross your paws she gets adopted quickly.
Her kittens are doing well. They don't seem to notice that Morrigan is gone and in fact the tabby boys are getting even more friendly. Mom had planned to leave the door open with the air lock up but they are big enough to big over so they will be in the room.
Gordon continues to do well. Daiquiri stood up next to his cage the other day and growled at him. Mom had given him a spring toy and Daiq is sure all the springs belong to her. The tiny boy came over and just slapped at her - totalky unafraid.
Morrigan is in heat. Save us all from the singing.
Gordon decided mom isn't so bad. She was cuddling him on Sunday and he purred!! His eyes are still runny but he is eating well and full of spunk.
Mom was busy this weekend. She got plants for the balcony on Saturday and then spent a couple of hours on Sunday at the zoo. She got to see the cheetah run and they were posing for the camera.
One of the rescue volunteers spent Monday chasing this little guy around a yard to keep him away from a big dog. No sign of a mom or siblings. They kept him overnight and dropped him off here yesterday morning.
He's too little to be tested and he seems to have a cold so he is on his own in the crate for a while. He is a little nervous but no doubt will come around in no time.
The woman who first saw him and contacted the neighbor made name suggestions: meet Gordon
When Morrigan and the kittens first arrived, mom stacked some clean blankets on a shelf to use if needed. They were still there until the other day when one kitten climbed up and knocked the blankets to the floor.
a post by the mom
I've talked before about the set up of the foster room. Due to just general space restrictions in 980 square feet of condo, I converted the dining room I never use into my foster space. To close it off I bought 3 screen doors and screwed them together. It works pretty well....most of the time.
Wednesday night after my shift at the rescue, I came home and about an hour later heard growling near the door into the foster space. I looked over expecting to see one of my cats standing near the door. Oh no - Morrigan had managed to pull the door IN and got it open enough that she and all five kittens were standing in the airlock space created by the exercise pen. Everyone was herded back inside and I starting using the lock I put on the door when I was fostering Soda.
Morrigan decided to take the challenge and then started using the cubes to jump to the top of the doors. Seriously??? Fine - I moved the cubes to the other side of the room. That didn't stop her. Several times between 9pm and 11pm she jumped up. She came into the main house once but after that would jump back into the foster room with the kittens.
I did text the rescue asking if there was surgery space today thinking I could get her spayed and then up to the rescue for the weekend. No luck. There is an open spot on Tuesday. My plan Wednesday night in my frustration was to take her up to the rescue and she would have to stay there until Tuesday and then go to the adoption floor after being spayed.
Of course, if an effort to screw with me, she stopped jumping after a while last night and didn't do it on Thursday. She may still have to go back but for now she is good in the room (for those curious, my cats tend to be ok with foster cats, but I don't want to take the risks that either one of them or Morrigan will start something that results in someone getting hurt).
