I picked up a bunch more holiday cards last week, scanned them, and posted them in the album over at Flickr. I’ll add more as I receive them. Have I mentioned that you guys give good cards? You really do!
I intend to do a breakdown of how many cards I sent out this year, and the various countries they went to, but didn’t get around to putting that together this weekend because I was super busy napping, snuggling kittens, and generally being lazy. I’m aiming to get that all put together for next Monday’s post.
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On New Year’s Eve, I was hanging out in the kitten room with the fosters. The camera on my phone was set on “panoramic”, which I did not realize, and so when I took a picture of Shelton, it came out like this:
I laugh every single time I look at that picture. You may have already seen it, since I posted it on Instagram/Facebook/Tumblr, but I wanted to make sure everyone saw it. (And yes, at some point I probably need to reinstate the Weekly Roundup posts on Saturdays!)
The most popular comparison was to Picasso, but someone referred to him as a Fluffy Flounder, which cracked me up, too.
For comparison purposes, this is what he looks like when the camera is set properly.
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I realized, as I was doing the links at the bottom of this post, that it was five years ago today that I introduced y’all to Alice (who had actually been with us for a few weeks at that point – but we were concerned about the size of her stomach and worried that she might have FIP, so I waited until we knew she was okay to introduce her). It was NINE years ago that I brought Joe Bob (then named Moonman) and his sister Moondance home from Petsmart to give them a break from the cage. They ultimately went back to Petsmart, and were adopted separately. Joe Bob was returned for a reason I don’t remember, and the end of January 2008, we adopted him after we lost Spot.
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The other evening, I was sitting in the foster room with the Coaches, and we all heard Fred coming to the door (we always sit with the kittens for a while before bed). Shelton ran right over and waited for the door to open.
When Fred came into the room, he was not alone.
Stefani went insta-floof, and Shelton was just like “?”
Levine also went insta-floof.
Stefani got all up in Stefan’s face, and Stefan was like, “Hi, little one.”
Levine and his floof cracked me up.
I love how Levine is staring at Stefan, and Stefan? He’s looking at the food, of course.
Silly boy.
Shelton wandered around the room for the longest time, apparently unaware that there was A Situation going on. When he finally noticed Stefan, he only went slightly floofy.
Poor Levine. Obviously so fascinated and yet terrified by Stefan, who really only wants to belly up to the food bowl.
Shelton wanted to get closer, but was a bit nervous about it.
So he balanced on the box of toys and then was startled when his tail hit that outlet cover on the wall.
Eventually, Stefan went over to sit by Fred (who is not, as it appears, naked in this picture. Fred wears shorts and t-shirts all year, no matter how cold it is. I, on the other hand, wear long pants and long-sleeved t-shirts all year, no matter how warm it is). Stefani took the opportunity to sniff Stefan’s tail.
And Levine took the opportunity to sneak closer.
So close!
This was about the time Stefan reached his “NOPE” limit, and asked to go back out. The kittens spent the next hour sniffing every spot in the room Stefan had touched.
Speaking of the Coaches, Pharrell (who pretty much immediately gained the nickname King Nubbs of Nubbington – Nubbs for short) is doing well. He’s got a few more days on meds before he’ll be able to go in with the other Coaches, so for now this is his castle:
I bring him into my room and shut the door several times a day. At first, he’d slide off the bed and go hide. Then, he saw the toys and he’d go play with them. Now, he’ll slide off the bed, play for a while, and then jump back up for love and petting. He’s still a bit skittish, but he LOVES to be snuggled.
Though I didn’t get any pictures, yesterday evening while he was running around my room playing, Adele started smacking at the door and whining to be let in. (That girl cannot abide a closed door.) I let her in, and she did as I expected: got floofy and overdramatic and hissy. Nubbs just stared at her, then went off to play by himself. She got over the drama pretty quickly, and after a little while they were both on the cat tree playing Slappy Paws. In another day or so, I’ll take him upstairs and let him meet the rest of his adopted litter. He can’t go in with them full-time until he’s done with his meds, but as long as they don’t share a litter box, he can meet them.
He is such a pretty boy.
Grooming interrupted. ::BLOOP::
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Video! Just a short one. In this one, Shelton’s got the hippity-skips. Of special note is the bit at the end where he’s walking away from Stefani, realizes there’s something there, and does a subtle tippytoe-jump.
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Adele, keeping Pink clean.
Pink, allowing the grooming.
These two will be headed off to Petsmart soon – tomorrow, I think. It would be great if they were adopted together, but it’s not something I’d insist on. They both play well with all the other cats in the house (the ones who will play, that is – basically, Stefan and Jake). It would be nice if I added Pink to the sidebar before they head off, wouldn’t it? Hopefully I’ll get that done today!
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Doesn’t Newt have the purtiest eyes?
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Previously
2014: No entry.
2013: “Dat my straw, lady, you don’t touch, okay?”
2012: She climbs up there and is like “I’m sure you were wondering where I was!”
2011: Meet Alice.
2010: I’m still not going to talk about it yet because I don’t want to jinx it into not happening, but I wanted to make sure y’all know about it in advance so you’re not caught by surprise!
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: The boy – Moonman – was perfectly willing to get into the cat carrier, but the girl – Moondance – did NOT want to get into the carrier, and I had to chase her down and wrestle her into the carrier.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Wishing Adele and Pink all the best of luck! Will they be sharing a cage to show that they get along well together? I am experiencing a bit of trauma here, I must admit…a few convulsions due to losing MY sweet Adele.
There are two larger cages currently available, one can hold 4 kittens, the other 2, so they should be able to stay in one together thankfully! My heart is hoping they’re adopted together as well…
Oh good. I wish they could be mine. But 4 is my limit, so the D Inn is full. My heart can yearn, though….
I had initially told Susan that I thought they should go into separate cages because Adele can be kind of rough. Then I watched them play yesterday and realized that Pink can definitely hold her own against her sister. So they’ll go into the same cage – which will be good, because Adele does NOT like to be alone, so having Pink there will be a comfort to her.
Ooooh, I’m first.. I’m never first.. 🙂
and I probably would have been if I hadn’t hit refresh to make sure I actually was first.. lol.. Oh well.
Poor Levine, but I’m sure he’ll get over his floof suit reactios pretty quickly
Psych!!! 😉
I love how Stefan looks at the kittens like “dey crazy” but refrains from chomping on them, such a good boy!
I think they make him a little nervous as this size – when they’re a little bigger he’ll hold ’em down and make ’em yell, but I think he’s afraid he’ll break them right now. 🙂
Also, King Nubbs is too cute. I think he actually will be like Pharrell is on the show. Sweet and calm, and full of positivity …who sometimes watches the antics of Levine & Shelton with bewilderment and bemusement.
Godspeed, Pink and Adele — may you find your ultimate fan(s) very soon.
Is there anything cuter, or less intimidating, than kitten floof suits?
I know, right? They’re like “::FLOOF:: FEAR ME!:: and we’re like “OMG SO CUTE!” Not the reaction they’re looking for, I bet. 🙂
Hi Robyn. I noticed when you spoke of Alice, you at one time thought she may have FIP. Have you ever had a permanent or foster contract it?
2 weeks ago, I lost my beloved Sugarbutt look-alike 13 yr old Basil to what the vet figured was fIP.
He stopped eating and drinking on a Sunday, and was very dehydrated when we got to the vets Monday morning. They did bloodwork and found his white bloo cell count was through the roof. No fever or pain, and nothing really certain. They kept him overnight and called first thing to tell me he was having trouble breathing and that they had put him in an oxygen chamber to help him. By the time I got there, it was confirmed that his lungs and chest were filling with fluid, and I had to say goodbye to my sweet boy that I’d had since he was 5 weeks old.
It was so quick that I was in shock for the first couple of days and his brother Monkey-who had gotten outside and was missing for 7 weeks but came back,spent the first night without Basil walking from room to room crying, looking for him.
I had never heard of FIP before. Have any of your readers ever dealt with it?
Leanne – I am so sorry about your Basil. Losing him so suddenly must be devastating. ((hugs))
Leanne, I believe Robyn actually has lost a permanent resident to FIP — Jake’s brother Elwood. I don’t know how long it’s been though. You can probably find the post by clicking on the Elwood tag in the sidebar.
So sorry for your loss of Basil. That must have been awful.
Leanne, I’m so sorry for your loss of Basil, especially after having to deal with the stress of Monkey being gone so long.
Gretchen is right, we lost Elwood to FIP three years ago. As I understand it, there are two forms of FIP, wet and dry. I noticed that Elwood had lost some weight, and took him to the vet. We were able to keep him with us for about three more weeks using steroids; his lungs and abdomen didn’t fill with fluid, so I guess that he had the dry form.
I think that the average cat owner isn’t aware of FIP, there’s not a lot of information out there about it, and it’s hard to diagnose, because diagnosis comes through process of elimination. I know that Connie at Tails from the Foster Kittens lost a foster kitten to FIP – she has several posts referencing FIP that you might want to read, and Random Felines lost not only a foster to it recently, but also their beloved Coral in 2014.
There’sinformation about FIP here – and I will post your comment in Friday’s post so that anyone else who has dealt with FIP can share their stories.
Ha ha ha – a naked Fred in the foster room! That’s something you’d only do once! #kittenclawsinallthewrongplaces #manybadwords 😀
Robyn, thank you for posting all of your Christmas cards! I love looking at Christmas cards, and I don’t get nearly that many! 🙂