Pictures of Bill, from Ann, his new momma!
Ann reports:
Bill is settling in nicely. We’re still working on getting Izzy to decide she’s fully ready to meet him but things are progressing there. They played paws under the door last night so it might not be much longer, although she’s still hissing some. But I did FINALLY get photos off the camera and thought I’d send you some to see.
He really is a sweetie and is VERY smart. He knows where we put the bird feather toy – in a bag on the hanger on the back of a door – and has learned to ask for it by standing on the edge of the bed and meowing at it! We love him!!!
If I recall correctly (and I know I do!), Bill was one of the only fosters we’ve ever had who figured out the cat door on the back door, and ventured out into the back yard. And then he taught Lafayette, and I had to chase them down several times during their last few days here! That Bill, he’s a smarty. And doesn’t he look happy?
Here’s a shot of what his big sister Izzy looks like, because I know we can never get enough of gorgeous cats:
Isn’t she stunning? Such pretty eyes!
Thanks, Ann – I really appreciate the update, and I know everyone else loves seeing pictures of Bill in his new home, too!
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The temporary visitors are now safe and sound with their new foster mum, Heaven. We’d originally planned to meet up this morning so I could hand them over, but once she found out we were going to both be at the Plea Market, she suggested that I just bring them there instead.
She really wanted to get her hands on them!
So I handed them over, and Fred and I went into the Plea Market to look around. Later, when we got home (and it’s probably no surprise that I was already kind of missing those little kittens. It’s funny how quickly they grow on you!), I checked the Challenger’s House Facebook page to find that Heaven had managed to pick up three more kittens after she’d gotten the two from me.
I told Fred she’s a kitten magnet. I envision her walking down the street and kittens just flying out of nowhere and sticking to her!
If you’re interested in watching those two kittens grow up, you can friend Challenger’s House over at Facebook, here. (I think that’s the right link; if it doesn’t get you to the Challenger’s House Facebook page, you can search on “Challengers House” and find it that way.)
Of course I got some pictures while the little ones were here!
The little boy (who is named “Sootie”) loved to just lay like this after being fed and pottied. Enjoys a good belly rub, he does!
Young lady, you’re a little young to be giving me this attitude already! (This is “Sweepie”!)
Ohhhh, the little round bellies kill me!
I love the faint stripes.
Really, really good eaters, these two.
Nov 22, 2009 | | Just passing through, The True Blood Kittens
The lady who had the kittens I babysat last weekend suddenly had to leave town (her father in Texas went into the hospital), and so she turned the kittens over to Challenger’s House.
Well, more specifically, to ME. When the shelter manager told me that the woman had to leave town, I said that I could take them for a few days, if need be, but didn’t have room for them long-term. Yesterday morning, I took possession of them, and I’ll have them until Sunday, when I’ll turn them over to their new (permanent) foster mom.
They’re awfully sweet. The woman who had them told me she’d tried to stretch their feeding time to every 4 hours, but they were losing their little minds at the 3-hour mark, so she’d been feeding them every 3 hours (last week when I babysat them, she had been feeding them every TWO hours). At nearly 3 weeks, I believed they should be able to wait four hours between feeding, and so I determined after their 10 am feeding that I’d wait until 2 to feed them again.
Yeah, right. At 12:30 – 2 1/2 hours after I’d last fed them – they started screaming. And they were not KIDDING, they wanted food RIGHT FREAKIN’ NOW, MAN.
So I fed them at 1. And then at 3:30 I was sitting at my computer (they were in a big carrier in the computer room), and I heard smacking noises, and so I went over to see what was going on.
When they’re this tiny, it’s instinctual for them to search for their mother’s nipple when they’re hungry or just want comfort. In the absence of a mother? They find other things, usually on each other. And that can be a problem, because these tiny kittens suck really hard, and they can cause some serious physical damage to each other. Not to mention that drinking each others’ urine is not a good thing.
After feeding them at 4:00, I separated them, put them in separate carriers, each with their own heating pads (that they could get away from if they got too warm) and warm fuzzy blankets, and each with their own stuffed momma kitty with a beating heart (only, in orange instead of gray. And thank god that I have two of them!). They griped a little bit, but each settled down pretty quickly and didn’t peep again.
I actually had to wake them up at 8:00 to feed them. I stretched their next feeding to 4 1/2 hours later, and they were fine.
I’m guessing that being in the same cage, one would wake up and be hungry, so root around and get the other one riled up, and they’d both start screaming to be fed. With them in separate carriers, they seem to sleep better.
I’ll only keep them separate for a total of a couple of days. Saturday afternoon I’ll put them back together and see how it goes. Usually (so I’ve heard), a couple of days is enough to break the pattern.
The little girl. They’re not named – I’m going to leave naming them up to their foster mother.
The little boy.
Little boy, with milk face.
Boy on the left, girl on the right.
We have located the complainer!
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Blue (TimTam). Kind of looks like she has long monkey arms, doesn’t it?
::thlurrrrrrp!::
I’m imagining a Barry White voice, here. “Well, helloooooooo, laydeez!”
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Veruca, concerned.
Violet, slurping.
Mike, considering.
I’m starting to think that the ear floof is taking on a life of its own.
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Tommy, trotting across the yard for a snuggle.
Nov 20, 2009 | | Cookies, Just passing through, Permanent Residents, the Wonkas
